VOLUME 11 NO 1 i Journal of African Elections Special Issue Nigeria’s 2011 Elections GUEST EDITOR Emmanuel Remi Aiyede ARTICLES BY Emmanuel Remi Aiyede Dauda Abubakar J Shola Omotola Gbenga Aiyedogbon Antonia Taiye Okoosi-Simbine A Irene Pogoson Osisioma B C Nwolise Omo Aregbeyen Olubukola Adesina Volume 11 Number 1 June 2012 i ii JOUR na L OF AFRIC an ELECTIO N S Published by EISA 14 Park Road, Richmond Johannesburg South Africa P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 11 381 6000 Fax: +27 (0) 11 482 6163 e-mail: [email protected] ©EISA 2012 ISSN: 1609-4700 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher Copy editor: Pat Tucker Printed by: Global Print, Johannesburg Cover photograph: Reproduced with the permission of the HAMILL GALLERY OF AFRICAN ART, BOSTON, MA, USA www.eisa.org.za VOLUME 11 NO 1 iii EDITOR Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg MANAGING EDITOR Pat Tucker EDITORIAL BOARD Chair: Denis Kadima, EISA, Johannesburg Jørgen Elklit, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, Denmark Amanda Gouws, Department of Political Science, University of Stellenbosch Abdul Rahman Lamin, UNESCO, Accra Tom Lodge, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Limerick Khabele Matlosa, UNDP/ECA Joint Governance Initiatives, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Lloyd Sachikonye, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe, Harare Roger Southall, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg The Journal of African Elections is an interdisciplinary biannual publication of research and writing in the human sciences, which seeks to promote a scholarly understanding of developments and change in Africa. Responsibility for opinions expressed and for the accuracy of facts published in papers, research notes, review articles and book reviews rests solely with the individual authors or reviewers. Contributions are referred to specialist readers for consideration, but the Editor is responsible for the final selection of the contents of the Journal. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission and books for review, should be sent to: The Managing Editor, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006, South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 11 381 6000 | Fax: +27 (0) 11 482 6163 | e-mail: [email protected] Business correspondence, including orders and remittances, subscription queries, advertisements, back numbers and offprints, should be addressed to the publisher: The Publications Department, Journal of African Elections EISA: P O Box 740 Auckland Park 2006 South Africa Tel: 27 (0) 11 381 6000 | Fax: +27 (0) 11 482 6163 | e-mail: publications @eisa.org.za iv JOUR na L OF AFRIC an ELECTIO N S CONTENTS Housekeeping Notes ....................................................................................................... v Open Forum: Kole Omotoso ........................................................................................ vi Editorial: The Politics of Electoral Reform in Nigeria, 2007-2011 Emmanuel Remi Aiyede ..................................................................................................... 1 The Legal and Constitutional Framework of the 2011 Elections in Nigeria Dauda Abubakar ................................................................................................................ 8 Federalism, Power Sharing and the 2011 Presidential Election in Nigeria Emmanuel Remi Aiyede ................................................................................................... 31 Political Participation and Voter Turnout in Nigeria’s 2011 Elections J Shola Omotola and Gbenga Aiyedogbon ........................................................................ 54 Gender Politics and the 2011 Elections Antonia Taiye Okoosi-Simbine ........................................................................................ 74 Gender, Political Parties and the Reproduction of Patriarchy in Nigeria: A Reflection on the Democratisation Process, 1999-2011 A Irene Pogoson .............................................................................................................. 100 Security Arrangements for the 2011 Elections Osisioma B C Nwolise .................................................................................................... 123 The Cost of the 2011 General Elections in Nigeria Emmanuel Remi Aiyede and Omo Aregbeyen .............................................................. 136 Monitoring and Observing Nigeria’s 2011 Elections Olubukola Adesina ......................................................................................................... 153 Contents of previous issues ........................................................................................ 171 Notes for contributors ................................................................................................. 192 VOLUME 11 NO 1 v HOUSEKEEPING NOTES Dr Jackie Kalley, managing editor of the Journal of African Elections, has retired from the staff of EISA. Pietermaritzburg-born Kalley began her professional life as a schoolteacher in the city of her birth, but soon changed to librarianship. In 1974 she was appointed as librarian at the South African Institute of International Affairs, Jan Smuts House: a career which would last for a quarter century. During this time she (and her colleagues) produced a slew of bibliographies on a range of topics which touched on apartheid South Africa and especially its international relations. She also completed an MA, under the supervision of the celebrated academic John Dugard, which she received cum laude. Her work focused on South Africa’s international treaties. Her PhD, which examined the effect of apartheid on libraries in the then Transvaal, was awarded by the University of Natal. She would go on to publish this thesis and many other books. Dr Kalley has retired to Pietermaritzburg, where she will concentrate on her publishing company, Otterley Press. Those who have been associated with the JAE wish her well and look forward to calling on her vast knowledge in the future. Pat Tucker, who has long been associated with the JAE as its copy editor, has taken over as managing editor. I am thrilled to be working with Pat, whose journalism, as I said in these pages several months ago, has inspired me since I was a student, and who is a professional of the highest calibre. The JAE is fortunate to have her on its team Peter Vale Editor vi JOUR na L OF AFRIC an ELECTIO N S OPEN FORUM Kole Omotoso is a citizen of the world but is, especially, a citizen both of Nigeria and of South Africa. A university professor, dramatist, novelist, movie star – but chiefly, intellectual – Omotoso is passionately interested in politics and public life in both countries. In late April, Peter Vale, Editor of the Journal of African Elections, sat down with Omotoso and asked him about his views on Nigerian elections and politics. This is an excerpt from their exchange. Does the novelist Ben Okri’s belief that Nigeria’s elections are always ‘fore won’ still hold? Maybe not any more. But in a more subtle manner elections are still manipulated to produce the result that those doing the managing want. Generally, there are no primary elections to choose candidates for elections. It becomes the privilege of the party leader and his cronies to choose the person they want. In doing this, a political party gets those interested in the positions to concede to the selected candidate before the voting takes place. This means that the rivals of the particular candidate concede his victory before the voting takes place. All this is going on on live television and everybody can see that pressure is being put on those others wanting to contest the position to withdraw their candidacy. What is the single biggest obstacle to the acceptability of Nigerian elections: the law or politics? The biggest obstacle to the acceptability of Nigerian elections is the culture of unpunished corruption rampant in the country. There are electoral laws. Rigging elections is breaking electoral laws. There are courts set up to deal with these types of crimes. But invariably those who are rigged out of their mandates sometimes think it is not worth going to court because they believe, rightly or wrongly, that the judiciary can be bribed to give a biased judgement. In recent times, more and more candidates done in by rigging have gone to court and won. As a result, it is noticed that while there were far more contested results in the elections of 2007, there were fewer candidates in the elections of 2011. What forms of electoral fraud take place in Nigeria? Are there remedies for these? There are three forms of electoral fraud: those committed before the voting, such as gerrymandering and tampering with the voters’ list; those committed during the process and period of voting, such as ballot-box stuffing or ballot- box hijacking; and those committed after the voting, such as declaring results contrary to the voting outcome. There are no remedies for any of these frauds VOLUME 11 NO 1 vii except preaching against them before they happen, and prosecuting them when they take place. Are you confident that elections can continue to contribute to the building of democracy in Nigeria? Elections are crucial to the building of democracy in any society,