CREDIBILITY OF THE 2019 GENERAL ELECTIONS AND THE GROWTH OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

In the world over, democratic governance is seen as a sought after and most cherished system of government, but the actual practice appears elusive in the context of the third world countries. As a result, this paper observed that since the adoption of democracy in Nigerian political system, there has been lacuna in the proper democratic processes in Nigerian elections. Therefore, the paper interrogated the nexus between credibility of the 2019 general elections and the growth of democracy in Nigeria. In the course of the study, we generated our data through documentary method of data collection and analyzed it with content analysis. Theoretically, we adopted the game theory as a fulcrum around which this study revolved. The theory maintained among other propositions that the individual actions, both the candidates and the voters in an election are fundamentally determined by the calculated payoffs. Extrapolation from the study is that the 2019 general elections recorded credibility deficit which goes a long way in stunting the growth of democracy in the county. As a way forward however, we suggest that both the candidates and the voters should as a matter of necessity eschew all their electoral activities that negate the fortification and growth of democracy in the country.