2011 Nigeria National Elections
2
E
XECUTIVE
S
UMMARY
In April 2011, Nigeria held its fourth presidential election since the end of military rule in 1998
alongside legislative and gubernatorial elections. The incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, and
the party to which he belongs—the People's Democratic Party (PDP)—won the presidency and a
majority of legislative and gubernatorial seats in relatively orderly elections organized by the
revamped Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). While the 2011 elections were
marked by improvements, the widespread post-election violence and lack of internal party
democracy highlighted the ongoing need for improving future elections.
At INEC's request, the International Republican Institute (IRI) organized an election observation
mission to observe Nigeria's 2011 national elections. IRI's mission consisted of 12 core, long-term
observers, and an international delegation of 44 short-term observers. IRI's long-term observers
were deployed throughout Nigeria in the month prior to the elections (one two-person team per
geopolitical zone) to observe legislative, presidential and gubernatorial elections, which took place
on April 9, 16 and 26, respectively. IRI's delegation of short-term observers witnessed the April 16
presidential election, covering 12 states and all six geopolitical zones. IRI's delegation of short-term
observers was co-led by Janez Janša (former prime minister of Slovenia and current member of the
Slovenian parliament) and Constance Berry Newman (IRI board member; former U.S. assistant
secretary of state for African affairs; former United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) assistant administrator for Africa). IRI coordinated its efforts with U.S. government
officials and its partners, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Foundation
for Electoral Systems, along with other international and multilateral entities.
In addition to its Election Day efforts, IRI conducted a pre-election assessment mission six weeks
prior to the elections—headed by the former president of Ghana, His Excellency John Kufuor—to
evaluate the political climate and the preparations for the elections. IRI also participated in a
separate pre-election assessment mission organized by NDI in early October 2010. These election-
specific efforts were components of a much larger IRI program to engage political parties, media,
youth, women and other stakeholders as key players in improving the credibility of Nigeria's
elections. This mission was made possible by funding from USAID. IRI thanks USAID for its
support, as well as the U.S. government for its commitment to improving Nigeria's political
processes.
The pre-election landscape in Nigeria was particularly noteworthy, given a number of critical
changes made in the months leading up to the April 2011 elections. Most importantly, a series of
modifications were made to the 2010 Electoral Act. A key outcome of this process was to ensure
independence from the executive branch, including adequate funding for elections. Politically, the
most important contribution to the improved 2011 elections was President Jonathan's decision to
appoint Professor Attahiru Jega, a well-respected academic and civil society activist, as the chairman
of INEC. Across the political spectrum, Jega was generally viewed as credible and independent.
This report is based upon the in-person reports of the pre-election assessment missions, the
observations of IRI's long and short-term election observation teams, the staff of IRI's Nigeria
office, and other data obtained from international and Nigerian sources. The report contains IRI's
