Many of Nigeria's elections since independence have been characterized by dismal and counteracting contours that have individually or collectively undermined the feasibility of entrenching democracy and procuring development in the country. This is because of the stark de?cit of the ingredients of credibility in the entire electoral process � from voter registration, issuance of voters cards, the integrity of the voter register, the violent nature of political campaigns to the long hours or days Nigerians queue to accredit and vote and the appointment of election management commissioners. Other problems include the training of actual administrators of the election activities in a given cycle and the way and manner in which election results are handled, especially the glaring discordance between hardcopy results at the polling unit level and the digitally available results on the INEC portal as witnessed in the 2023 elections. The de?cit of credibility in Nigerian elections has not only weakened popular choice for democracy, but has also emboldened corrupt politicians, entrenched godfather politics, facilitated state capture processes, disenfranchised citizens, sti?ed the dividends of governance and created a kleptocratic state.

With the wave of military coups and resurgence of military rule in several African countries and citizens' celebratory acclamation of this disturbing trend in affected countries, it becomes clear that when the people are ready to turn their back on democracy if elections are not credible. To keep to the strict and narrow path of free and fair elections is therefore the pathway towards keeping the military out of politics, especially as the 2027 general elections approach. This brief submits that the main reasons why Nigeria's elections continue to lack credibility is because some Nigerian politicians remain committed to eroding the credibility of our elections. They appear to believe that when elections are credible they will lose. Nigerians need to learn that the essence of democracy is precisely that when citizens feel a candidate is not ?t for purpose, their responsibility is to keep them out of power. 02