Nigeria has a history of hotly contested elections: 1959, 1964/65, 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011.

Three issues stand out in all the elections:
A: The high stakes contest between factions of the political elite for power involving the use of force and electoral malpractices,

B: The contradictions and crisis surrounding the politics of succession,

C: The credibility of the electoral process.

The 2015 elections would prove to be the ultimate test of Nigeria’s democratic structures and processes and perhaps, the country’s nationhood. Also, as West Africa’s pivotal state and leading oil exporter, the outcome of the March28 elections would be critical to regional peace and global energy security.

In the run up to the elections the rising political tensions are fundamentally linked to the issue of whether the coming elections would be free and fair, reflecting the choice of Nigerian citizens in ways that will bring forth a truly representative and accountable government, which can effectively address the interests and welfare needs of the people.

This is fundamentally because since Nigeria became independent on October 1st 1960, the history of election has been written in violence.

The Human Rights Watch in its follow up of post-independence events in Nigeria describes the nation’s post-independence history as being overshadowed by the depredations of a series of corrupt, abusive, and unaccountable governments. This description is apt because it appears that Nigerians seem to have acquired a culture of electoral violence as all elections conducted since independence in 1960 have been violence-ridden.

As all eyes are on 2015 general elections in Nigeria, we pray for a remarkable outcome that will be void of violence.

VOTE & NOT FIGHT