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Nigeria Presidential and National Assembly Elections Report of the Commonwealth Observer Group Nigeria Presidential and National Assembly Elections 28 March 2015 Map of Nigeria Source: Economic Intelligence Unit ii NIGERIA PRESIDENTIAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 28 March 2015 Table of Contents Letter of Transmittal ......................................................................... vi Chapter 1 ....................................................................................... 1 Introduction .................................................................................. 1 Chapter 2 ....................................................................................... 3 Political Background ........................................................................ 3 Historical Background .................................................................... 3 The 1999 Elections and Return to Democracy ........................................ 3 THE 2003 ELECTIONS ..................................................................... 4 THE 2007 ELECTIONS ..................................................................... 4 THE 2011 ELECTIONS AND DEVELOPMENTS ........................................... 5 BUILD UP TO 2015 ELECTIONS .......................................................... 8 SECURITY SITUATION ................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 3 .................................................................................... 14 The Electoral Framework and Election Administration .............................. 14 Legal Framework for Elections ....................................................... 14 The President ........................................................................... 15 The National Assembly ................................................................ 15 Electoral System ........................................................................ 15 Election Administration ............................................................... 16 Voter Eligibility and Registration .................................................... 16 Candidate Eligibility and Nomination ................................................ 17 Election petitions and appeals ....................................................... 17 Recommendations ...................................................................... 18 Chapter 4 ..................................................................................... 19 The Campaign and the Media............................................................ 19 Overview of the Campaign ............................................................ 19 Campaign Framework .................................................................. 19 Campaign Issues ........................................................................ 20 Peace Efforts and Hate Speech ....................................................... 20 Overview of Media Landscape ........................................................ 21 Legal Framework ....................................................................... 22 Media Climate ........................................................................... 22 iii Campaign coverage .................................................................... 23 Hate Speech in the Media ............................................................. 24 Mobile and Social Media ............................................................... 25 Media Access for Elections ............................................................ 26 Recommendations ...................................................................... 26 Chapter 5 ..................................................................................... 28 Broadening Participation ................................................................. 28 Voter Education and Participation ................................................... 28 Youth Participation .................................................................... 28 Women’s Participation ................................................................ 29 People with Disability .................................................................. 31 Recommendations: ..................................................................... 32 Chapter 6 ..................................................................................... 33 Voting, Counting and Results Process .................................................. 33 The Process for Accreditation, Voting, Counting and Results Tabulation ...... 33 Accreditation procedure: ............................................................. 34 Voting Procedure ....................................................................... 34 The Count and Results Process ....................................................... 35 Election Day Offences ................................................................. 35 Presidential Election Results ......................................................... 36 Assessment of Accreditation Voting and Counting ................................ 36 Accreditation ............................................................................ 36 Voting .................................................................................... 38 Counting ................................................................................. 39 Election Day Offences ................................................................. 39 Recommendations: ..................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 7 .................................................................................... 41 Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................... 41 Conclusions .............................................................................. 41 Recommendations ......................................................................... 41 The Electoral Framework and Election Administration ........................... 41 The Campaign and the Media ......................................................... 42 Broadening Participation .............................................................. 43 Voting, Counting and Results Process ............................................... 43 Annex I ........................................................................................ 45 Biographies ................................................................................. 45 Commonwealth Secretariat Staff Support Team ..................................... 48 iv Annex II ........................................................................................ 49 ................................................................................................. 49 Commonwealth Observer Group ........................................................... 49 Arrival statement by Commonwealth Observer Group .............................. 49 Annex III ....................................................................................... 51 Commonwealth Observer Group ........................................................... 51 Interim Statement on the Nigeria Presidential and National Assembly Elections 51 Annex IV ....................................................................................... 55 Statement on the timetable by Prof Attahiru M Jega ............................... 55 Annex V........................................................................................ 59 Declaration of Results .................................................................... 59 Annex VI ....................................................................................... 60 List of the 28 Registered Political Parties ............................................. 60 Annex VII ...................................................................................... 61 List of Presidential Candidates .......................................................... 61 v Letter of Transmittal vi vii Chapter 1 Introduction The Secretary-General constituted a Commonwealth Observer Group at the invitation of the Chairperson of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) to observe the Presidential and National Assembly Elections. These were initially scheduled to be held on 14 February 2015 and were later rescheduled to 28 March 2015. Following the postponement, the Observer Group was redeployed on 21 March 2015. It was led by H.E. Dr. Bakili Muluzi, former President of Malawi and comprised 10 eminent persons. The Observer Group was supported by a six member staff team from the Commonwealth Secretariat. Biographies of members are contained in Annex I. In line with the Secretariat’s usual practice, the Secretary-General sent a Pre- Election Assessment Mission to Nigeria from 17-21 November 2014. The main purpose of this mission was as follows: to ensure that the Observer Group would be free to pursue its mandate; to confirm that there would be broad support in Nigeria for the presence of Commonwealth Observers; to brief key stakeholders in Nigeria on the way in which such a Group would work; and to assess the pre-electoral landscape. The Assessment Mission obtained assurances that there would indeed be broad welcome for Commonwealth Observers; however, due to the ongoing insurgency in the North-East of Nigeria, it concluded that the conditions did not exist for a full and comprehensive observation. The Nigerian authorities assured the Assessment Mission that security would be augmented to allow for elections to take place. Terms of Reference The
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