The apparent loss of citizen's trust and confidence in Nigeria's electoral process has assumed a vital discourse among academicians and political pundits. The level of voters apathy experienced in many general elections, particularly that of 2011 and 2015 after the annulled 1993 Presidential elections, is undoubtedly a matter of great electoral concern. However, scholars have not closely investigated factors responsible for this declining confidence. But what more exactly explains this loss of confidence, and which are the factors for restoring it? This study developed an in-depth analysis of the reasons Nigerian citizens' confidence diminish in their electoral process. To address these, a case study approach that will centre on the 2011 and 2015 general elections using quantitative and qualitative methods was advanced. Similarly, some theoretical lenses helpful for this endeavour, such as frustration-aggression, functionalist, comparative and principal-agent theories, was deployed. These lenses were intended to unravel the mysteries associated with citizen's eroded confidence through providing answers to the following research questions. First, why does confidence in election matter, and what contextual factors explain citizen's confidence or lack of confidence in elections and the electoral process?; Second, what is the perceived effect of a diminishedcitizen's confidence? And thirdly, what corrective measures or expedient electoral innovationscould improve citizen's confidence in Nigeria's elections and electoral processes?

Based on Nigeria's political setting, data were gathered from elections results over the years and my study respondents who were thirty-seven in total. Strategically, each respondent would represent the thirty-six states of the Nigerian federation and one for Abuja as the federal capital territory. These data were subjected to some thematic analysis. My keyfindings suggest that factors affecting citizens' confidence include lack of quality governance and absence of a transparent electoral process bedeviled by recurrent violence, infrastructural decay, moral deterioration, entrenched systemic corruption, disorganized election administration, voting irregularities and electoral malpractices. My further findings also show that all these have been left to accumulate after several decades of failure of the leadership and quality electoral governance. Others include reoccurring voters inconveniences such as long lines of voters, experienced delay on voting days, absence of modern-day voting technology, voters suppression, incoherent voters register, inaccuracies in vote counts, unqualified, ill-trained, inefficient poll officials and inefficient results compilation procedure.

Concerning corrective measures or expedient electoral innovations that could improvecitizen's confidence, my findings proved that complete electoral reforms, a total overhaul of the entire electoral value chains, appointing qualified electoral officials, adequate training for electoral Adhoc personnel, increased voters awareness, improvement of voting infrastructures including technologies, speedy and efficient voting processes and above all improved quality of service delivery to voters particularly on election day could bring the much-desired positive change. All these measures, when properly harnessed, could foster and restore the long lost citizen's confidence in the electoral system and process of Africa's largest democracy.