There is, indeed, the rising crisis of misgovernance, glaring undemocratic practices, increasing cases of fraudulent elections, clear evidences of poor political representation and apparent signs of general underdevelopment in Nigeria. All these are largely the results of the pervasive and endemic prebendalism in the country. Very worrisome is that prebendalism is ever getting more critical and damaging as it continues to eat deeper into the political fabric of the Nigerian polity. Against this background, the study critically examines the issue of prebendalism in Nigerian politics and governance, and analyzes the implications of prebendalism on the nation’s democratic practice, particularly as it concerns the conduct of democratic elections, effective representation and national development generally. In carrying out the study, information and data were collected through secondary sources like data collection. Consequently, content analysis technique was adopted for analysis. The findings of the study reveal that the prebendal intentions that induce fraudulent electoral activities and the actual use of public offices as prebends result in flagrant waste and corruption and hinder the conduct of democratic elections, forestalling effective representation and impeding overall national development. Given the fact that prebendal culture nurtures corrupt instincts and practices and should have no place in modern democratic practice and for which it needs to be drastically controlled, the study recommends, among others, that the entire Nigerian citizenry should be reorientated to a better value system that essentially would entail seeking, occupying and using public offices purely for the interest of the citizens and for effective administration of national development. To effectively realize this, however, there needs to be a conscious and systematic effort by the government to create and preserve the growth of public sentiments and values that are consistent with selfless service, political democracy and overall good governance.