In the modern world, leaders come into power through elections and Nigeria is no exception. In an ideal situation, the elections are supposed to be credible, free and fair. However, it is already an established fact that there can never be a perfect election anywhere in the world as such the credibility of an election is weighed on the scale of substantial compliance.
In Nigeria, Elections are conducted in respect of the different levels of Government in the country, be it Local Government, State Houses of Assembly, the National Assembly, comprising the Legislators and Senate and finally Presidential Elections[i]. The elections have been conducted manually first using the head count called “option A method” and subsequently with ballot paper and that remained the trend until elections were suspended following incessant military interventions starting from 1966 and only resumed in 1999 when the nation was returned to democratic rule.
[i] Section 15, Third Schedule and Items 22, 56, 67and 68 of Part I Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
