Independent National Electoral Commission and the Management of 2015 General Election in Rivers State

Abstract

The paper interrogated the challenges faced by the Independent National Electoral Commission in it policy implementation in the management of electoral violence in the 2015 general election in Rivers State. The Independent National Electoral Commission is a body created by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended) to organizes elections, orientate the public on the methodology of the conduct of election, the offences and possible punishment that may arise from any violation of the election norms and declare winners of elections as well as issue certificate of return to such winners of elections. Methodologically, the study adopted mixed research method; utilizing both survey and descriptive techniques. Primary data were sourced through questionnaire and interviews, while newspaper publications, journals, the Electoral Act of 2010 and 2022 respectively, as well as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) were adopted for secondary data. The inferential statistics (ANOVA) was adopted to validate the hypothesis. The findings revealed that the policy implemented by the Commission in the management of the 2015 General Election in Rivers State were good, but yielded minimal result because it was bedeviled by some challenges. Consequently, the paper recommended that Independent National Electoral Commission should start preparing Nigerian for electronic voting and the use of robotics in places of humans during elections, this would stem the tide of hostilities experienced during the elections.