Statement by Mr. Yves Leterme, Secretary-General, International IDEA, on the Nigerian Presidential Elections of 28 March 2015 

After a frenzied period of campaigning which fed and was equally fed by fears of a possible outbreak of massive electoral violence and worse in Nigeria, the people of Africa’s most populous country and largest economy went to the polls to cast their votes in an exercise whose outcome has been historic in many senses. Not only was the emerging culture of a peaceful transfer of power from one elected government (which began when former President Obasanjo handed over power to the late President Yar’adua) to another re-affirmed for a second time in the post-independence history of the country, for the time, an incumbent President, Mr. Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) was defeated by the leading opposition candidate, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressices Congress (APC).

Furthermore, in another history-making development, the losing incumbent President took the phone to concede defeat and congratulate his winning opponent even before the formal results of the ballot were announced by the Independent Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC). The new President-elect has also been magnanimous in his victory statements to date. Suddenly, what seemed like an imminent electoral mayhem that some feared could result in national disintegration was converted into one of the biggest success stories for democracy-building in contemporary Africa. IDEA would like to join legions of well-wishers around the world to salute the people of Nigeria for this feat and in doing so, also join people of good will around the world to celebrate the efforts deployed by the INEC leadership to deliver an election that was largely credible.

International IDEA prides itself in having been a part of the contemporary Nigerian transition from military dictatorship to democratic governance, working through the country office it maintained in Lagos during the 1990s until the swearing in of Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo as the first elected President of the country’s Fourth Republic in May 1999. With regard to the 2015 elections, the Institute worked with INEC, under the auspices of the African Union Commission, to build domestic capacity to deploy and manage its trademark election risk management tool. We look forward to continuing our work with the country’s leadership as the democratic process and the institutions that mediate grow in strength and vigour. We also hope that the lessons from the Nigerian experience will be refracted positively into the wider African drive for the consolidation of democratic governance. International IDEA stands ready, as mandated by its member states, to partner with all democracy actors on the continent to make this happen.

Yves Leterme,
Secretary-General,
International IDEA.

Stockholm, 03 April, 2015.