Creating Political Legitimacy: Electoral Democracy Versus Good Governance in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic (1999-2023)

Abstract

This study x-rayed election versus good governance in creating political legitimacy for a government by assessing the extent to which the successive administrations in Nigeria since 1999-2023 enjoyed political legitimacy based on the popular elections that ushered them into power versus their popularity in relation to their policies afterwards. Also, the study examined the reasons why a government that won a popular election with wide acceptability but later lost its popularity among the majority of the electorate, whereas a government with controversial election and lower acceptability of ascendance to power could easily warm itself into the heart of the majority, moving forward. Thus, to carry out the investigation, the study drew data mainly from secondary data and relevant literature; and content analysis was adopted to arrive at findings that: political legitimacy, greater citizens’ confidence, and support for government are, most importantly, created and sustained by good governance or destroyed by otherwise. The study, also, aligned with the fact that election bolsters legitimacy because the citizens are afforded the opportunity to participate in the political process to elect their leaders. Then, the study concluded that elections, even though free and fair, cannot sustain political legitimacy for a government if it doesn’t translate to good governance.