Adebiyi, Oluwashina Moruf2025-05-072025-05-0720144. Adebiyi, O.M. (2014). Democratization, governance and the challenges of Nigeria’s national security: Lessons from Nigeria’s electoral history’. Political Science Review, 6(1):116-130. Published by the Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin1996-4124https://uilspace.unilorin.edu.ng/handle/123456789/16349One of the fundamental goals of any civilized society is to ensure the maintenance of law and order which in turn guarantees the general security of the entire citizenry. An important avenue for achieving this is to ensure a credible democratic process devoid of violent transition of power from one regime to the other. The national security dilemma in Nigeria today is an indication of the near failure of the Nigeria's democratization and governance processes. Given the strategic position and role of the Nigerian state in the West African sub-region and Africa in general, the national security situation has far reaching effects not only on the Nigerian state and its people but on the region as a whole. This paper examines the interwoven relationship between democratization, governance and Nigeria's national security looking at the countries electoral history. The paper contends that there is a link between democratization, governance and national security. While a violence-free electoral process enhances the democratization process and foster national security, a violence-ridden democratic process does the opposite. The paper through a careful review of existing secondary information and a critical analysis of the country's electoral history submit that one of the challenges facing the countries national security is electoral violence which results from or leads to flawed elections. The paper, however, conclude that consolidating Nigeria's democratization process, ensuring effective governance and enhancing national security can be achieved through a vibrant and transparent electoral process.enGovernanceDemocratizationNational SecurityElectoral ViolenceElectionElectoral ProcessArticle