Free and fair are words that are peculiar to elections in Nigeria and other parts of the planet.
United States Mission to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated that free and fair elections are a fundamental element of a healthy democracy.
To be truly free and fair, however, elections require not only transparent and well-managed election day polling, but also a society that encourages full citizen participation, political parties to operate freely, independent media to flourish, and which builds a judiciary system capable of exercising independent and impartial authority.
By and large, the workability of the above depends on people. Democracy is people-oriented.
Elections are the sine qua non of democracy. But dictatorships make evident the notion that elections alone cannot establish or sustain democracy. Without democracy's other essential elements - consent of the governed, constitutional limits, the protection of human and minority rights, accountability and transparency, a multiple party system, economic freedom, and the rule of law, elections cannot guarantee that freedom will be achieved.
Where democratic institutions are weak, elections are easily used by violent and dictatorial political groups to manipulate the will of the people and seize control of the government.
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