The Sanction Regime in the 2010 Electoral Act and Recurring Infractions in the Electoral Process in Nigeria IntroductionThe third wave of democratization, which began in the late 19 th century no doubt, reinforced the centrality and indispensability of elections as a framework for smooth and peaceful transfer of power from one government to another. Elections provide the medium through which the electorate can exercise their franchise by voting for their preferred political parties and candidates, and by so doing participate in the formation of government and engage in governance. For this process to be free, fair and credible, the state has to make laws that guide the conduct of elections. These laws provide the framework upon which political parties and other stakeholders are regulated and monitored. This implies that these laws cover pre-election, election and post-election activities of all stakeholders in the electoral business.In the case of Nigeria, the legal framework for the administration of elections is an aggregation of constitutional provisions, electoral acts and allied legislations. These legislations are usually unequivocal in policy directions and provide the basis upon which Electoral Management Bodies (EMBs) and other stakeholders in the electoral process operate. These laws invest on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the mandate to conduct elections and ensure in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies that the provisions of these laws are strictly adhered to by political parties, candidates and the electorate. Therefore, by this mandate INEC is empowered to issue guidelines, manuals, handbooks, codes of conducts where and when necessary, in discharge of its duties.In view of the above and in an effort to deepen democratic governance through competitive multiparty electoral politics, successive regimes, both military and civilian, had put in place several legislations which began with the introduction of Elective Principle in the 1922 Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution (Eko-Davis, 2011). Since then, constitutions and other legal enactments by colonial administrations provided the bases upon which elections were conducted including the 1959 independent election (Igini, 2015). While the 1963 election was organized using the Republican Constitution, decrees and other military directives were used to conduct the
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