Towards Democratic Consolidation: Exploring the Role of Elections and Political Parties in Achieving Good Governance in Nigeria and Beyond

This paper discusses the practice of good governance as a major ingredient for democratic consolidation in Africa. It exposes the lacuna experienced in electioneering processes through party selection, leadership recruitment, and irregularities that follow the conduct of elections, which make governance problematic and democracy undesirable. The paper adopts qualitative methodology, conducted in Nigeria with examples of unconstitutional changes across Africa by engaging in the documentary method of data collection and analysed using narrative analysis to interrogate the nexus between good governance and democratic consolidation. The paper anchors on structural functionalist theory and Steinmetz theory of democracy. The paper found that elections enhance and confer political legitimacy on the government, while political parties help towards influencing policies that promote good governance. Thus, authoritarian rulership threatens democratic advancement. The paper recommends a repositioning of political parties in discharging duties to elect responsible, competent, and qualified aspirants. Equally, a strong independent electoral body whose acts and practices conform with credible conduct of elections will deepen democracy in Africa.