EFFECT OF POVERTY IN THE REALIZATION OF IDEALS OF DEMOCRACY IN THE NIGERIA ELECTORAL PROCESS

Abstract

In every democratic system of government, there are certain ideals that must be present so as to truly qualify thesystem as democratic. Electoral process plays vital roles in the realization of those ideals. These ideals rangefrom proper observance of the constitutional principle of rule of law, the application of doctrine of separation ofpowers among the various tiers of government, free and fair election, independence of the judiciary, checks andbalances, obedience to court among other ideals of democracy. To achieve these ideals of democracy, attentionmust be paid to various factors that may come in contact with the electoral process and tend to hinder theattainment of the ideals of democracy in the electoral process. Electoral process is influenced by so many factorsone of which that is the pivotal to this research is poverty. The aim of this research is to appraise the legalimplication of poverty in the attainment of ideals of democracy in the electoral process in Nigeria. The papercovers how poverty affects pre-election activities, during election activities and post-election activities. Themethodology adopted in this paper is the doctrine legal research methodology using the analytical approach withthe aid of statutory enactments, case law, textbooks. At the end of the research, the writers concluded that povertyhas negatively affected the realization of the ideals of democracy in the Nigeria electoral process. The writerstherefore, recommends a total overhaul of the electoral processes by pulling in places machineries that willprevent the effect which poverty has on the Nigeria electoral processes.