2011 Nigeria National Elections
11
eventually came to a consensus in favor of the election rescheduling, as it indicated to them that the
Jega-led INEC was serious about implementing reforms, promoting a transparent process and
improving the inclusiveness, credibility and quality of the elections. The constitution and related
legislation were thus duly amended and election dates were officially rescheduled for April. Under
the new schedule, the swearing-in date for the new president—May 29, 2011—remained unchanged.
The process leading up to the rescheduling of elections for April was not the final change to the
electoral calendar, however. As mentioned earlier, the national assembly elections were originally
scheduled for April 2 but were called off and rescheduled for April 9, causing the entire election
schedule to be moved back by one week. Although in some areas of Nigeria the voting process got
underway as planned on the morning of April 2, many areas had not received the needed election
materials. Around noon, Jega officially announced that the accreditation process already underway
be terminated and all national elections rescheduled. Originally, Jega proposed Tuesday, April 4, but
this short extension did not satisfy the majority of stakeholders, nor necessarily ensure sufficient
time for solving the logistical problems encountered. After a short period of deliberation, the
new—and final—electoral calendar was announced on Sunday, April 3: national assembly and
presidential elections would be postponed by one week, to April 9 and April 16, respectively. Since
shifting the entire election schedule back by one week would have resulted in the gubernatorial and
state assembly elections falling on the weekend of Easter Sunday (April 23–24), an important
Christian holiday, another modification to the electoral calendar was made to avoid controversy
between Muslims and Christians: gubernatorial and state assembly elections would be held on
Tuesday, April 26, instead of Sunday, April 24.
Other minor changes were made to the electoral calendar: selected national assembly elections (15 in
the Senate and 48 in the House of Representatives) were delayed due to problems related to lack of
election materials and rescheduled for Tuesday, April 26. Also, due to the outbreak of violence
following the April 16 presidential election, and the need to deploy adequate security forces, INEC
rescheduled the gubernatorial and state assembly elections in the states of Kaduna and Bauchi for
Thursday, April 28.
Voter Registration
After amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act officially allowed the elections to be postponed, INEC
undertook the critical and challenging task of creating a new voter registery. Since 1999,
questionable voter registration lists had been a principal contributor to the lack of credible elections.
Both 2003 and 2007 saw incidents of names missing from the voter register as well as reported
occurrences of underage and fictitious voters. In those two elections, it is likely that supporters of
certain candidates, or political parties, registered multiple times by bribing election officials, stealing
registration materials for production of illegal voter cards, and/or compiling illegal lists. Areas with
inflated voter registration figures then received more ballots, allowing unscrupulous candidates to
win by producing higher votes in their name, along with higher reported turnouts. Erroneous,
inflated voter lists likely provided cover for the overwhelming instances of electoral fraud, especially
in the 2007 elections.
In this context, Jega concluded that the inaccurate voter register used in 2007 could not be used in
2011; not only would it invite further electoral fraud, but the symbolism presented by the 2007 voter
register would also undermine public and stakeholders' confidence and lead to diminished turnout
and voter participation. INEC decided to eliminate the 2007 register altogether and undertake the
