ANALYSIS OF THE 2019 NIGERIA’S PRE-ELECTION ADMINISTRATION ON LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND VOTER REGISTRATION

Abstract

Pre-election administration is central to electoral process while the legal framework and voter registration      are also central to election administration. The integrity of election results is determined by the management     of pre-election administration most especially the legal framework and the voter registration. Right from             Nigerian independence, electoral manipulations are linked to both the poor conduct and management of             legal framework and voter registration. This trend still continues in the Nigeria present democratic Fourth             Republic. This development has greatly dented the integrity and credibility of election results. It is against             this background that this paper attempts to examine and analysis the 2019 Nigeria’s pre-election             administration on legal framework and voter registration. To properly take off, the study adopts secondary        source of data collection using textbooks, journals, election reports, internet, newspapers, magazines and            other relevant unpublished materials. Democratic theory and equality theory are adopted as foundation upon   which the arguments or discussions on the paper are based. The paper reveals that there were a number of           amendments made to the Constitution in 2018 which had some bearing on election matters but nothing was         done to Electoral Act regarding amendment.  However, some         aspects of the legal framework used for the conduct of 2019 elections are deficient. On voter registration, continuous voter registration exercise took       place in 2017 to 2018, lasted for sixteen months. The paper revealed that there are some disparities identified   in the exercise. It is then concluded that legal framework and voter registration played significant role in the 2019 elections. Alternative options are provided to stem the identified challenges for future elections.