Civil Society Organisations And Election Monitoring In Nigeria: The 2015 General Election

Abstract

Civil Society Organisations have recently been active and playing a vital role in democratisation in Nigeria particularly in the Fourth Republic. They were instrumental in the success of the 2015 General Election. This paper is a research work that examined the role of Civil Societies in election monitoring in Nigeria during the 2015 General Election. The problem identified was the way in which the existence of numerous civil societies did not influenced positive electoral process in the country for more than a decade except in the 2015 General Election where their inputs aided the process of credible elections. The research used qualitative case study method of data collection where informants were selected from certain categories that are directly stakeholders in election in Nigeria including academicians, INEC workers and civil societies for Focus Group Discussion. The research discovered that, civil societies influenced the transparency and credibility of the 2015 General Election through proper monitoring, civic voter education, active collaboration with electoral body (INEC) and collaboration with international donor agencies through what they called “Civil Society Situation Room” consisting of more than 60 registered civil societies. The research recommends that, civil societies should be empowered with constitutional backing and independent funding to enable them carry out their responsibilities adequately. Also, the paper recommends that, the electoral body (INEC) should liaise more and cooperate with civil societies to enable for better elections undertaking in future.