2011 Nigeria National Elections
3
detailed observations of the pre-election period, the three days of voting—particularly the
presidential election—and the immediate post-election period.
On the April 16 presidential election day, IRI's teams observed more than 340 polling stations in
both urban and rural areas across Nigeria's six geopgraphic regions, called geopolitical zones. The
observation teams witnessed each stage of the election, beginning with the opening of polling
stations and continuing through the accreditation process, voting, vote counting and a portion of the
tabulation of results. Throughout that Election Day, data and information from the observation
teams were collected in real-time and relayed to the IRI command center in Abuja. Observers also
took photos and documented their observations in writing for each polling station visited. The data
collected was analyzed for this report.
IRI found the 2011 Nigerian elections to be an improvement over the 2007 "election-like" event.
The Nigerian people were generally enthusiastic about exercising their civic duties, and turned out to
vote in large numbers. The preparation and administration of the election was unprecedented,
considering Nigeria's troubled electoral history. The majority of polling centers visited by IRI were
provisioned with the proper materials and, for the most part, opened on time or with only a short
delay. During the actual election days, the incidents of violence were few, also signaling an
improvement over past elections.
Despite these gains, there were a number of challenges that were witnessed by the delegation. In
some cases, IRI observed polling stations that were overcrowded, failed to maintain ballot secrecy
for voters, allowed underage voting and inappropriate campaigning, or turned away voters because
their names could not be found on the voter list. Most unfortunate was the wave of post-election
violence that overwhelmed the northern regions when INEC announced President Jonathan had
won the election with 59.6 percent of the vote. This violence resulted in more than 800 deaths, as
well as massive displacement of people and the destruction of property. This was the worst case of
post-election violence in recent Nigerian history.
