Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State says there will be credible elections in the country, if political leaders could take conscious steps to address the issues that had always stifled free and fair elections.

Sylva stated this  in Abuja in a paper titled, “Challenges of Free and Fair Elections in Nigeria: the Executive Perspective,” which he presented at the National Summit on Free and Fair Elections, organised by The Nation Newspaper, in collaboration with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Chief Sylva, who described credible elections as a political and economic imperative, asserted that, “free and fair elections enable us reclaim our humanity. It gives the people room to express themselves in terms of choosing their representatives”.

Noting that free and fair elections are the best mechanism to publicly enforce the principle of accountability, transparency and openness. The Bayelsa governor said “free and fair elections enable the citizenry assess the capacity of leaders to deliver the goods and help strengthen our democratic institutions”.

The governor said democratic rights strengthen one another, thus, “Political freedoms like elections and free speech help advance economic security, social opportunities such as education and healthcare promote economic participation, economic opportunities like participation in trade and production can create personal abundance and public resources for social infrastructure.”

Sylva identified challenges to free and fair elections in the country to include political apathy and suspicion among the citizenry, disbelief in the ability of the leader, when elected into office, to evenly distribute the dividends of democracy more often than not cause the citizens to seek pecuniary and other rewards during electioneering.

“We can resolve this challenge by ensuring, when elected into office, that we see the whole political territory as our constituency, instead of segregating between regions of the territory.

“Our development initiatives need to be mass-based and tailored towards the good of all within the geopolitical entity. This would help to foster a political culture that would be averse to the things that threaten elections in the country,” the governor said.

He lamented the situation where citizens often feel “a sense of lack of stake in the system,” saying, “We must take cognisance of the fact that participation is key to credible elections. “The people must be involved in determining the process for enthroning their government. It is only by so doing that they can own the process and the government that emerges from it”, he continued.

The governor  thus advised leaders in the country to be sober at the wheel of power because it is a position of responsibility, as opposed to personal aggrandisement. He was, however, optimistic that Nigeria would soon overcome its electoral challenges.