A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ELECTION PROCESS IN THREE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES: NIGERIA, GHANA AND LIBERIA

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ELECTION PROCESS IN THREE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES: NIGERIA, GHANA AND LIBERIA (INDUSTRIAL RELATION AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

All over the world, democracy have been embraced, while principles have assumed as the main pillar in selecting political leaders in a democratic society. In West Africa, undoubtedly, the most appropriate platform for selecting leaders is through elective principles. This process of selecting leaders has been in use, in the selected West African Countries: Nigeria, Ghana and Liberia. Historically, these three West African States have many things in common: located in the same region: experienced similar colonial political framework: have similar election process yet they have different ways and modes of selecting leaders.

Subsequently, Nigeria like other West African countries included Ghana and Liberia have chosen elective principles as a way forward to popular participation and good governance. The process of which this popular participation and good governance are consolidated is through election. Election has been seen in a democratic society as a formal decision making venture, of which the people in a particular geopolitical entity choose individuals, equip with a legitimate mandate to hold and manage public offices¹, such public offices like legislative, executive and judicial institutions which are often determined by the majority head count.

The most important elections in the countries of the study are aimed at selecting leaders for the local, state and national governments. The chance to decide who will govern at this level of government serves as an opportunity for the public to make choice about the policies, programmes and future direction of government actions. At the same time election promotes accountability and responsibility by the government to the people’s quests.

In most country of the world, electoral bodies are vested with the responsibility to decide on electoral matters without the intervention of any arms of government. This means that, electoral bodies have the supreme audacity to operate on a full-scale of autonomy. Such institutions in the study area, controlling and managing elections affairs are Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria. In Ghana, there is Electoral Commission of Ghana, and in Liberia, the body is known as National Electoral commission (NEC). The electoral bodies in the selected states are supposed to manage the elections’ affairs without any bias, in partiality or indiscriminately favour to any political party or parties’ contestants. To this end, what is often observed in the actions of the various electoral bodies is perfunctorily contradictory to what is expected from them.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ELECTION PROCESS IN THREE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRIES: NIGERIA, GHANA AND LIBERIA (INDUSTRIAL RELATION AND PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)