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African Union Election Observation Mission Report: Nigeria 2015

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African Union Election Observation Mission Report: Nigeria 2015 AFRICAN UNION COMMISSION AFRICAN UNION ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION TO THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA FINAL REPORT June 2015 African Union Election Observation Mission Report: Nigeria 2015 Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 12 II. OBJECTIVE AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................... 14 (a) Objective ............................................................................................................. 14 (b) Methodology ......................................................................................................... 14 III. PRE-ELECTION FINDINGS ..................................................................................... 16 (a) Political Context of the 2015 Elections .................................................................. 16 (b) Constitutional and Legal Framework ..................................................................... 17 (c) Electoral System ................................................................................................... 18 (d) Election Management ........................................................................................... 19 (e) Voter Registration ................................................................................................. 20 (f) Political Party and Candidate Registration ................................................................ 21 Table 1: List of Registered Political Parties .................................................................. 21 Table 2: List of Presidential Candidates and Running Mates for the 2015 Elections .... 22 (g) Electoral Campaign and Campaign Finance ......................................................... 23 (h) Participation of Women and Youth ........................................................................ 25 (i) Civic and Voter Education ........................................................................................ 26 (j) Role of Civil Society Organisations ........................................................................... 26 (k) The Role of the Media ........................................................................................... 27 (l) Preparedness of INEC .............................................................................................. 28 IV. ELECTION DAY FINDINGS – PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 29 V. POST-ELECTION DEVELOMENTS AND FINDINGS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS ................................................................................. 31 (a) The Result Management and Tallying Process ..................................................... 31 Table 5: Results of the Presidential Election ................................................................ 31 (b) Complaints and Appeals ....................................................................................... 32 VII. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................... 36 (a) Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 36 (b) Recommendations ................................................................................................ 36 To the Government: ......................................................................................................... 36 To INEC: ......................................................................................................................... 36 To Parliament: ................................................................................................................. 37 To Political Parties: .......................................................................................................... 38 ANNEXURE 1: DEPLOYMENT PLAN ................................................................................ 39 ANNEX 2: OBSERVER ORIENTATION AND BRIEFING PROGRAMME ........................ 42 Page | 3 African Union Election Observation Mission Report: Nigeria 2015 ACKNOWLEGEMENT The AUEOM is grateful for the support it received from a number of individuals and institutions that helped ensured its Mission in Nigeria was a success. The Mission first and foremost expresses appreciation to the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Independent National Electoral Commission for extending an invitation to the African Union (AU). This clearly demonstrated their openness and willingness to subject the electoral process to international scrutiny. The AUEOM wishes to express special gratitude to His Excellency Professor Amos Sawyer, former Interim President of the Republic of Liberia, who, along with Professor Ibrahima Fall, former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Senegal, and Her Excellency Dr. Aisha Laraba Abdullahi, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission (AUC), provided leadership for the Mission. Their wealth of experience and insights strengthened the work of the Mission. The AUEOM also acknowledges the contribution of all its observers, especially the Long-Term Observers (LTOs), who travelled to multiple, difficult locations and provided regular regional analysis that formed the basis of the Mission‟s public statements and observations about the elections. The Mission‟s work in Nigeria would not have been possible without the dedication and commitment of its technical staff from the African Union Commission and the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA) who, collectively, were the primary drafters of this report and other statements issued by the Mission. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS A Accord AA Action Alliance ACD Advance Congress for Democrats ACDEG African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance ACPN Allied Congress Party of Nigeria AD Alliance for Democracy ADC African Democratic Congress APA African Peoples Alliance APC All Progressive Congress APGA All Progressives Grand Alliance AUC African Union Commission AUEOM African Union Election Observation Mission CPP Citizens Popular Party CSO Civil Society Organisation DPP Democratic Peoples‟ Party EISA Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa EMB Election Management Body FCT Federal Capital Territory FRESH Fresh Democratic Party HOPE Hope Democratic Party ID Independent Democrats INEC Independent National Electoral Commission IPAC Inter-Party Advisory Council KP Kowa Party LP Labour Party LTOs Long Term Observers MPPP Mega Progressive People Party NBC Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation NCP National Conscience Party NEDG Nigeria Election Debate Group NNPP New Nigerian Peoples Party NOA National Orientation Agency NPC National Peace Committee Page | 5 African Union Election Observation Mission Report: Nigeria 2015 PAP Pan-African Parliament PDC Peoples for Democratic Change PDM Peoples for Democratic Movement PDP Peoples Democratic Party PPA Progressive Peoples Alliance PPN Peoples Party of Nigeria PVCs Permanent Voter Cards RECs Resident Electoral Commissioners SCRs Smart Card Readers SDP Social Democratic Party STOs Short Term Observers UDP United Democratic Party UPN Unity Party of Nigeria UPP United Progressive Party EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The African Union (AU) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to the 2015 General Elections in the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 2 February to 16 April 20151, following an invitation from the Federal Government and the Independent National Electoral Commission in Nigeria. A total of 84 observers, comprising 14 long-term observers (LTOs) and 70 short-term observers (STOs) were deployed to cover 5 out of the 6 geopolitical regions, and 20 out of 36 States in Nigeria. The AU deployed long-term and short-term observers to Nigeria with the objective of providing a critical and impartial assessment of the preparations and conduct of the 2015 elections and the extent to which they are compliant with regional, continental and international principles for democratic elections to which Nigeria has committed itself. To achieve this, AUEOM observers closely followed the electoral process and held consultations with several stakeholders in Nigeria. The leadership of the Mission also held consultations with key stakeholders in the country. The AUEOM assessed the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria in conformity with relevant regional, continental and international principles governing democratic elections, as well as the national legal framework for elections in Nigeria2. Based on observations and consultations held before, during and after the 28 March 2015 Presidential and National Assembly elections and the 11 April 2015 Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections, the AUEOM made the following findings and conclusions: The 2015 General elections in the Federal Republic of Nigeria constituted an important opportunity for deepening democracy in the country. The elections were the fifth consecutive in Nigeria‟s Fourth Republic and presented an important step towards consolidation of democracy in the country since the return to civilian rule in 1999. The emergence of a new opposition party – the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2013 reconfigured the contest for the 2015 elections. The pre-election environment was characterised by heightened concerns about security, particularly in the northeast
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