Democratic Governance and Political Accountability, 1999–2015

Abstract

The chapter provides an audit of Nigeria’s electoral democracy in terms of democratic accountability beyond elections as a formal, procedural process. It opens with a clarification of the notions and nuances around democratic governance and political accountability, showing the relationship between them. It also offers a brief historical account about the state of political accountability in Nigeria before 1999 and then between 1999 and 2014 under four analytical themes. These are electoral and legal accountability; socio-economic development, economic wellbeing and financial accountability; national security issues; and citizen’s participation and political accountability. Overall, the chapter demonstrates the deficit of Nigeria’s electoral democracy in terms of political accountability. Despite increased space for civic groups to engage the democratic process in diverse ways, the level of accountability of the state to citizens in the dimensions of responsiveness and answerability has been abysmally low. The problem is not unconnected with weak electoral governance, the disempowering neoliberal economic policies pursued by the government since 1999, the high levels of corruption and impunity, mounting insecurity challenges and declining level of civic participation.