The Conduct of Elections in Nigeria has remained highly problematic, as politicians and their cohorts adopt various untoward methods to manipulate either the electoral process or the election outcome or both. These manipulations have eroded Nigeria’s elections and the electoral administrator’s credibility. This predated Nigerian independence. It has continued through the republics, including the Fourth Republic. This chapter traces the historical journey of manual electoral administration to the technologically driven electoral process. The chapter discusses various approaches through which elections are manipulated to create the false impression that our elections are credible and comply with the democratic ethos of majoritarian and participatory democracy. The study employs historical methods in data collection and relies on secondary sources, including election results, electoral acts, presidential results as released by INEC and chapters in books on elections. The data collected were presented in tables, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The study juxtaposes pre-technologically conducted presidential elections (1999–2011) with the technologically driven electoral process (2015–2023). The essay found that technologically conducted electoral processes and outcomes are less susceptible to human manipulation in terms of both process and outcome. The essay, therefore, concludes that technological innovations in the administration of the electoral process have an impact on the conduct of elections in Nigeria. The study recommends full digitalisation of the electoral process to make our elections more acceptable within and outside the country.

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Technological Innovations and Administration of Credible Elections in Nigeria

  • Eyitayo Folasade Adewumi,
  • Michael Abiodun Oni

摘要

The Conduct of Elections in Nigeria has remained highly problematic, as politicians and their cohorts adopt various untoward methods to manipulate either the electoral process or the election outcome or both. These manipulations have eroded Nigeria’s elections and the electoral administrator’s credibility. This predated Nigerian independence. It has continued through the republics, including the Fourth Republic. This chapter traces the historical journey of manual electoral administration to the technologically driven electoral process. The chapter discusses various approaches through which elections are manipulated to create the false impression that our elections are credible and comply with the democratic ethos of majoritarian and participatory democracy. The study employs historical methods in data collection and relies on secondary sources, including election results, electoral acts, presidential results as released by INEC and chapters in books on elections. The data collected were presented in tables, and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. The study juxtaposes pre-technologically conducted presidential elections (1999–2011) with the technologically driven electoral process (2015–2023). The essay found that technologically conducted electoral processes and outcomes are less susceptible to human manipulation in terms of both process and outcome. The essay, therefore, concludes that technological innovations in the administration of the electoral process have an impact on the conduct of elections in Nigeria. The study recommends full digitalisation of the electoral process to make our elections more acceptable within and outside the country.