AN EXAMINATION OF THE LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK ON CONDUCT

ABSTRACT

The conduct of local government election in Nigeria has always been marred with a lot of challenges ranging from electoral malpractices, rigging, and falsification of votes in favour of a party against the other as well as intimidation of the electorate through violence means. All of these have made free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria a mirage or a pipe dream for the average Nigerians who will want to choose their representatives through the ballot box.  This research examines the legal and Institutional framework for the effective conduct of local government council elections in Delta state. Findings during the research shows that right from the return of democratic governance in 1999, Local Government Council Elections in Delta State has not been conducted in substantial compliance with the relevant laws and the end result is that in all the elections conducted so far in Delta State, over 98 percent of candidates of the ruling parties in every elections were declared winners due to the undue influence of the Governors who appoints members of the commission into office. The research adopts the doctrinal methodology which seeks to gather information from relevant sources in other to arrive at the right conclusion. After a careful examination of the relevant legal and institutional framework on Local Government Elections in Delta State, it was observed that source of the challenges that makes free and fair elections elusive in Delta State lies in the laws as well as the institutions. The research thus recommends that State Independent Electoral Commissions should be scrapped, that Local Governments should be granted full autonomy, that there should be an Amendment to the Delta State Independent Electoral Commission Law, 2017 on area of appointment and funding of the commission, that public sensitization and enlightenment on the danger of destroying government properties as well as to avoid all form of electoral malpractices should be encouraged and promoted. The research therefore concludes that election remains one of the basic elements that define participation in any democracy, one that is regular and fair, and that freely allows the people to choose those who should manage their affairs for a given period. Therefore where the citizens are allowed to freely choose their leaders democratic governance are fully entrenched. Therefore all relevant stakeholders should return to the drawing board to look at the various challenges militating against free fair and credible elections in other to fully realize the wishes and aspirations of the people through the ballot box.