Topic:
Country: Nigeria
Delegate Name: Monica Delgertsogt
Nigeria faces very important challenges in making sure the fairness of its elections. Despite meaningful progress in democratic procedures, criminal activities continue to eat away the reliability of elections in the country, eroding public trust and lessening the successfulness of democratic institutions. The Republic of Nigeria remains determined to preserve free and fair elections. However the continuous threat of electoral violence, corruption, and other criminal activities keep on persisting, damaging the whole thing. The role of the United Nations and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has been very important in aiding Nigeria’s electoral system. To build upon the infrastructure even more that what is already, greater collaboration and innovation are needed very much to safeguard the democratic process.
Criminal activities that eat away the integrity of elections is a very important thing to worry about. Electoral violence is still one of the most important threats that is often backed by political interests. Where they get involved in violent things such as attacking the voters and others involved like the candidates. Because of this, many people are scared of only the lessons people want to participate in. Another thing is buying votes or bribing. Sometimes the candidates try to buy their votes by convincing the voters to vote for them if they agree on the money given to them. It really worsens the independence for voters and makes them only care about the amount of money they are getting. Sometimes other groups may even threaten others to vote for specific candidates and really ruin the fairness of the elections. Furthermore, electoral fraud continues to be a problem. The ongoing threat of terrorism disrupts elections, especially in the northeastern regions of Nigeria. Where attacks on polling stations prevents the ability of citizens to freely exercise their right to vote.
The UN and the UNODC have been involved(and still are) in addressing these challenges by supporting Nigeria through various initiatives designed to fight back electoral crimes. The UNODC has focused on helping build the amount of law enforcement agencies in hopes to respond to incidents of violence. It has helped make sure that the voters and others are safe. The UNODC has helped to assist Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission in preventing electoral fraud. It has helped promote better accountability by holding the people who started those crimes. Public awareness campaigns have helped teach Nigerians about the importance of free and fair elections. And especially the dangers of doing those types of crimes.
Even with all this trying there is still a lot to do for the elections in Nigeria to be free and fair. The infrastructure provided by the UN and UNODC has given a strong base but some places still need to be checked. Nigeria’s electoral bodies must be even stronger by more technology and help with money. This includes improving voter education programs, strengthening the integrity of voter registration systems, and making sure that the entire electoral process is easily accessible to the public. The UNODC can play a more important role in enforcing more strict regulations on political financing. By monitoring campaign financing and finding and talking about the illegal funding sources. It will help to make sure that wealthy people aren’t trying to use their money to get their way. Enhancing security at polling stations should also be an important thing to focus on. Making Nigeria’s electoral justice system stronger is very important. The UNODC can support Nigeria.
In conclusion, while Nigeria has made very important and good progress in making its electoral systems stronger, there are still some criminal activities that are still a bit of a problem. It has been trying to address these challenges through capacity-building initiatives, support for electoral integrity, and conflict resolution efforts. Although, to help preserve free and fair elections, there is a need for continued collaboration. Both within Nigeria and with the broader international community. By trying to do all this, Nigeria can make progress throughout the coming years.
