THE JUDICIARY AND GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

Elections are considered as cardinal and indispensable in the practice of modern democracy. According to Nnoli (1990) “It is closely tied to the growth and development of democratic political order that is generally held to be the single most important indicator of the presence or absence of democratic government”. Elections if properly organized, devoid of rigging and all forms electoral manipulations and malpractices do not only establish and entrench democracy, but confers legitimacy on the leadership that emerged from the process, the political institutions, policies and programmes that accompany such administration. Election has been defined as the manner of choice agreed upon by people out of many to occupy one or a number of positions of authority (Nnoli, 2003). Elections have always been the legitimate way of transferring power from one regime to another through the ballot box. Through election, popular conduct and participation in public affairs is created in the society, Ugoh (2004).