2011 Nigeria National Elections
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In addition to the sources cited above, IRI also examined INEC's actions and statements on the
presidential Election Day, and the days following, as reported by Nigerian media and/or INEC's
official website. The results of IRI's pre-election poll conducted November 29 – December 7, 2010,
and post-election poll, conducted October 20 – November 3, 2011, were also analyzed by IRI to
compare public perception at those respective points in time with actual reported electoral outcomes
and circumstances, as well as the general mood and situation of Nigerian voters as directly observed
(or evidenced in the numerous photos taken) by IRI observer teams.
IRI's observers noted that the 2011 presidential election was markedly better than that of 2007; a
higher percentage of polling stations observed by IRI adhered to INEC's rules and procedures, and
instances of fraud, voter intimidation and other improprieties were reduced. IRI observed 340
polling stations, of which 162 were documented via the more comprehensive paper questionnaire.
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Of these 162, some were only partially documented and are therefore missing certain data points.
The results of this data collection are included in Appendix D and are cited as a percentage of
documented polling stations, with the number of valid data points indicated in parentheses (i.e.,
n=xx). The next section summarizes the general findings contained in the data collected by IRI.
These findings mirror the informal verbal reports and post-deployment debriefings received from
IRI's observers, as well as the findings of other international observers.
Polling Centers (Environment/Preparedness/Material Distribution)
About three-quarters of the polling stations visited by IRI's observers opened on time (at 8:00 a.m.)
for the April 16 presidential election day. Those that opened late generally experienced short delays,
and the vast majority of polling stations visited were adequately staffed and supplied with the
necessary election materials when they opened. (Also, a few stations opened but did not
immediately begin accrediting voters). Once the accreditation process was underway, assigned
polling officers were found to be present and actively assisting voters at virtually every polling
station (98 percent) as were party poll watching agents (97 percent). Party agents representing the
PDP were almost always present (89 percent) although major opposition parties also frequently had
agents available: CPC (63 percent); ACN (48 percent); ANPP (22 percent)—particularly in the states
where they were strongest. Anecdotally, however, some observers felt that on a few occasions party
agents claimed to represent an opposition party but were in fact associated with the dominant party.
(Observers were not able to verify this suspicion, however). Other Nigerian non-partisan observers
were present in 35 percent of the polling stations visited by IRI. Only in six percent of the polling
stations visited did voters or officials inform IRI observers that there were problems or irregularities
occurring prior to their visit.
With respect to the general mood and environment outside of the polling stations, IRI observers
witnessed a small number of disturbances: tension and unrest (three percent); police or military
interfering with voters (one percent); other problems (two percent). Most polling stations appeared
to have the appropriate/adequate/proper amount of security present and the security personnel
were performing their duties in the correct manner, though a few stations either lacked security or
had a disproportionately large police or military presence. Similarly, the environment inside the
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This was not due to procedural error; IRI instructed its observers to visit as many polling stations as possible during
the course of Election Day, and to attempt to collect data only when feasible, and when the time and environment were
conducive to the same. Also, command center staff informally visited a few polling stations in Abuja during the
presidential Election Day for which data collection was not expected.
