Nigeria

Following the national elections held in February, Nigerians voted for the members of Houses of Assembly for the 36 states, and for governors of 28 states on 18 March. Following a number of complaints about the conduct of the national elections made by political parties, the state elections had been delayed by one week as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) sought to find solutions. Observers noted that the state elections experienced fewer logistical challenges than the national elections, and the technologies used for voter identification and results tabulation functioned well. Still there were reports of violence and vote buying, particularly in the states of Lagos, Lagos, Rivers, Enugu and Kano. Observers reported that 21 people were killed in election-related violence. Continuing the trend from the national election, turnout was reportedly low and few women were candidates.

Elections Electoral Management Body

On 25 February, Nigerians voted in one of the most consequential elections in Africa in 2023. The lead-up to the election was dominated by economic challenges and protests against shortages of fuel and the newly redesigned currency. Turnout was markedly low, down from the already low mark of 35 per cent in 2019, with only 27 per cent of registered voters participating in the election. International observers faulted the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) for logistical failures, irregularities, and a lack of transparency. The ruling party (All People’s Congress) candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election. In the National Assembly, the APC lost ground to opposition parties, but retained its majority in the Senate and likely also in the House of Representatives. The election failed to advance women’s representation, with only 18 women elected to the 469-member National Assembly thus far (some seats remain to be determined). Opposition parties have announced that they will challenge the outcome of the presidential election in the courts. Those proceedings are likely to last at least six months.

Elections Electoral Management Body

In two stories published in December, Reuters reported on allegations of severe abuses by the Nigerian military in its years-long fight against insurgent groups. One report alleged that the Nigerian military had been operating a programme that performed abortions (often without consent) on women who had fallen pregnant after being taken as hostages by Islamist insurgent groups. Reuters found that more than 10,000 such abortions had been performed since 2013. In a second report, Reuters alleged that children were intentionally targeted during military operations against Islamist insurgent groups. The report suggested that thousands of children have been murdered over the past 13 years and was able to find at least two witnesses to six incidents in which a total of 60 children were killed. The Nigerian military and government responded to each of these reports with a complete denial, calling the reporting an insult and evil. Nevertheless, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, asked the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the allegations made in these reports.

Intrastate War

With only three months until the February 2023 elections in Nigeria, many CSOs have been active in highlighting any procedural problems or restrictions on political rights. After a process of internal review during which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) purged the voter register of 2.7 million ineligible registrants, INEC published the preliminary voter registry for public review. CSOs were quick to bring attention to potential problems relating to the registration of persons who may be too young to vote, and others who may be registered more than once. Following public input, the registry is to be corrected before the election. In isolated, but concerning incidents, two INEC local offices were the targets of arson in Ogun State and Osun State. Given the understaffing, logistical challenges (including matters around voter registration), and violence that marred the 2019 election, these matters in Nigeria must be carefully monitored.

Elections Electoral Management Body