Elections and Good Governance in Nigeria's Fourth Republic (1999-2010)

The electoral process is an ideal and integral part of the democratic process, whether in developed or developing nation. A mal-functioning electoral system inadvertently produces maladministration or governance. In most developing countries, crisis of governance is usually the major problem because of the manner people ascend into political power. The paper, through the use of systems analytical framework therefore, discusses the negative effect of electoral vices on good governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. Using secondary sources of information, the paper accentuates gender imbalance and political inequality among political actors in Nigeria as being responsible for poor electoral process which has resulted to poor governance. The study recommends among others that for good governance to thrive in the nation, the marginalization and under-representation of women in governance should be discouraged entirely. They (women) should be encouraged and supported so that they can also contribute maximally to good governance in the nation. In fact, there is need for a realistic implementation of the United Nation Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) as well as Nigerian laws to engender fairness and equity in governance and public spheres in the nation. Politicians should desist from conducting politics as a warfare and do-or-die affair as these make citizens who are supposed to benefit from good governance scapegoats of the democratic process. Elections should be conducted in a free and fair basis, upholding tenets of the rule of law such that the Nigerian citizenry is given fair opportunity to choose their representatives and also to contribute to the policy making process