2011 Nigeria National Elections
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Political parties should, of their own volition, work to improve internal party democracy,
especially in the nomination of candidates for elections. Continuous registration would
allow for all parties to conduct their primaries at the same designated time on a nationwide
basis, and in accordance with more precise procedures approved by the 2010 Electoral Act.
INEC and the political parties should continue to hold stakeholder dialogues to explore
ways for greater INEC involvement in party primaries, potential impact on voter
registration, associated allocation of costs, and possibility of holding pilot primaries at the
state-level to test feasibility of different systems (e.g., registration by party affiliation, election
of party nomination delegates, or popular, non-binding preferential vote to allow parties to
"test" candidates). PDP and major opposition parties should be encouraged to participate in
any public dialogues on improving internal democracy, while also allowing smaller parties a
role.
Political parties should create adequate space for young people to participate in the electoral
process by making party nomination forms free for interested young people seeking political
offices. Parties should ensure that the youth leaders are between the ages of 18–35, the
prescribed age for youth under the African Youth Charter, the National Youth Policy and
the Nigerian Youth Manifesto. Youth organizations should encourage their members to join
political parties of their persuasion and participate actively in the political process of Nigeria.
Political parties should encourage fuller participation of women in the electoral process,
including through continued advocacy for party or nationwide requirements to include a
quota for women candidates in national, state and local elections;
Recommendation 5: Address the problem of underage voting.
INEC should re-evaluate its current measures for addressing and preventing underage
voting. (Issues such as this are further arguments for creating an electoral offences
commission and political parties commission.)
Recommendation 6
:
Ensure that polling stations have a manageable number of registered
voters.
INEC should carefully adjust its plans in future elections to ensure that all polling stations
have a manageable number of registered voters.
Recommendation 7: Strengthen INEC.
INEC should make information and election data more accessible to the public, particularly
official results and voter registration information. INEC should continue to improve its
website, as it still falls short of its potential as an online resource for public, transparent,
historical and detailed data related to election results, voter information, and
communications to the public and to INEC officials. The 2011 election results and voter
registration data should be made completely available online, as easy-to-find, downloadable,
workable, database files, with exact results by state, local government areas and ward, and if
feasible, by polling station and polling unit. The data should also contain non-geographic
information, such as age and gender of voters, while avoiding the release of any personally
identifiable data that could lead to voter intimidation. Availability of this data will contribute
to the transparency and credibility of future elections; serve as a strategic voter outreach
resource for political parties, candidates and civil society organizations; assist journalists and
researchers in analyzing elections and political issues; and allow INEC (and the resident
