The article focuses primarily on the issue of identity and contested citizenship within the context of democratic governance in Nigeria since 1999. A deep understanding of the workings of Nigeria’s democratic terrain may not be possible without some understanding of the identity. Given the political salience of ethnic, religious, and other social forces identities, it has led to a bifurcated citizenship crisis such as the dichotomy between “settlers” and “natives” and “indigenes” and “non-indigenes” or local citizenship. These centripetal and centrifugal forces have not only has become the rule for distributing position, power, and resources in Nigeria but have also coalesced to give rise to an identity crisis and contested citizenship. Different explanations have been offered regarding the implication of the above subject matter for democratic governance. However, the article tries to subsume these explanations under the indigene-settler perspective. Hence, the emergence of federal character, quota system, and true federalism as well as several socio-economic and political crises that became heightened since the beginning of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic are the manifestation of identity and citizenship crisis. The article, therefore, articulates viewpoints that bring into forefront intellectual debate on the future of Nigeria's democratic governance amidst identity crisis and contested citizenship. The article adopts a historical research methodology and relies on secondary sources of data.