Post Election Peace Building: The Role of Civil Societies in 2015 General Elections in Nigeria

Abstract

In reality, democracy as a liberal project emphasizes the formal, institutional and procedural elements such as multi-party system, periodic elections, and constitutional guarantee of civil and political liberties. Freedom of the people to exercise their franchise is fundamental to liberal democracy, so elections lie at the heart of representative democracy. According to Egwu, (2014), not only is the democratic character of a regime measured by the extent to which those who govern are chosen by means of free and fair elections, both the quality of voting rights and the sanctity of votes are strong measures of democracy.