#ForwardNigeria

special publication on the 2015 elections

Jonathan: We shall never go back to the old ways Are you better off today than in 2011?

FACTS AND FALLACIES ABOUT THE PRESIDENT 10 obvious reasons to vote for GEJ

LAUGH it off: 11 spoof quotes attributed to famous politicians

what they said...

A model of the Second Niger Bridge. Work has commenced

contents 06. ten Reasons to Vote for GEJ 10. vital statistics - projects 46. footprints - transformation at a glance 78. a dozen famous lies 120. what they said 128. flashback - comments and assessments 164. press report 184. laugh it off

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then and now

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96

In his own words

108

The biography

126

International leaders

what they said...

From the Co-ordinator You’re holding a very important document ─ a publication that highlights all that is good about Nigeria in the last three or so years when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan assumed office. We at the One Nigeria Coalition (ONC) are interested only in the progress of Nigeria, and we are always very happy to associate with success.

Isoken Omo National Co-ordinator, One Nigeria Coalition

We are convinced that President Jonathan represents a great forward leap in the leadership of Nigeria, and this publication documents important strides by his administration which, we believe, should automatically recommend him for a second term ─ since performance is a key factor in elections.

Improving the quality of life is the responsibility of any government, and President Jonathan has shown courageous and visionary leadership which has produced results that speak not just to today but will also lead us to a greater tomorrow.

He met a lot of inadequacies on the ground: millions of children out of school, insufficient infrastructure for tertiary education, thousands of kilometres of nonmotorable federal roads, a retarded agricultural sector, a fraud-ridden civil service payment structure, fading glory in sports, a troubled power sector, a convoluted political system and several other challenges that made life difficult for the average Nigerian.

But, as you would find out in this publication, he has recorded unprecedented strides in all the sectors of the economy. It is said that ‘fact is sacred and opinion is free’. Everybody has their opinion about the performance of President Jonathan in his first term, but we at ONC work with the facts. And the facts are very encouraging. Facts are better appreciated when you consider where you are coming from to where you are now.

Clearly, we have more motorable federal roads today, from 4,500 kilometres in 2010 to 25,000 kilometres today; we have expanded our tertiary education infrastructure and instructional capacity; Nigerians are playing a bigger part in the oil & gas sector; Nigerian farmers are enjoying the harvests of their lives; food importation bill has gone down dramatically; Nigeria is now a cement-exporting country; the airports are wearing a new look; the power sector is off on a firm footing with the successful privatisation; and so on and so forth. As the 2015 elections draw near, this is not the time to start risking the experience of trial and error by a new government that may be more interested in politics and vengeance than development. Having been in office for the last few years, President Jonathan is more in tune with the current realities. This is no time for experimentations and reversals.

Nigeria has to move forward, not backward.

FORWARD is a publication of the One Nigeria Coalition, a non-profit, non-partisan group committed to promoting the political and economic development of Nigeria.

One Nigeria Coalition Address: 8 Abriba Close off Yola Street, Area 7 Garki Abuja Email: onenigeria1914@yahoo.com Phone: +234 (0) 9099705934, +234 (0) 9099705935 SPECIAL THANKS to the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Research, Documentation and Strategy for providing the highly valuable information reproduced in this collectors’ publication.

We also thank The Lady Kaduna Foundation for its support ******* Magazine Design: Cover and Interior by Sunny Hughes ‘Sunza’

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10 reasons to vote jonathan again

There are at least a thousand and one reasons why President Jonathan deserves to be re-elected. Below is a selection of just 10 of the obvious ones.

“One of the major setbacks for the development of Nigeria is the trend whereby a newly elected government reverses or abandons the policies of the previous government, especially if both do not belong to the same party”

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Nigeria Should Go Forward, Not Backward

One of the major setbacks for the development of Nigeria is the trend whereby a newly elected government reverses or abandons the policies of the previous government, especially if both do not belong to the same party. This is very common in states but also happens at the federal level, both in military and civilian dispensations.

Nigeria would most probably have overcome many of its challenges in sectors such as power, education, oil and transportation if previous plans had not been altered and implementation truncated by successive governments.

The reasons for this trend are many, most of which are political. A new government wants to say it has its own ideas, thereby jettisoning good ideas of the predecessor. Having criticised a sitting government in the quest for power, the successor will almost certainly jettison that government’s plans just for the sake of it, so as not to be seen as endorsing ideas it had fiercely criticised. To avoid a reversal of key policies of President Jonathan such as the privatisation of the power sector, agricultural transformation and industrial revolution, wise voters will give him another term in office.

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PROMOTING ONE NIGERIA IS NONNEGOTIABLE

In the history of Nigeria, President Jonathan ranks among the most committed in terms of uniting the nation.

Forget the propaganda of the opposition and the mischief of the disgruntled: President Jonathan has the most diverse cabinet, electing to appoint more people from other parts of the country rather than his own ethnic group. Unlike in the past when heads of state and presidents always gave certain positions to their kinsmen and women, President Jonathan bucked the trend by making critical appointments, especially in security and finance, from across the nation. Federal projects and appointments are evenly spread. He refused to play one part of the country against the other - although his political opponents constantly accuse him, without substance, of playing ethnic and religious politics. For someone who comes from a minority group and has close friends from all religious divides, President Jonathan’s desire is to see a country where people talk less about sectional issues but focus on one indivisible nation. He demonstrated his belief in uniting and strengthening Nigeria by successfully convening the National Conference in 2014.

what they said...

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WE HAVE A PRACTICAL, HANDS-ON LEADER

In spite of a very demanding and unforgiving work schedule, President Jonathan has earned the reputation of a public administrator who shows more than a passing interest in the practical side of the work of his administration.

Those who work closely with him often marvel at the barrage of questions he asks them concerning the progress of projects, be it a road construction, a retreat or a book. Commenting on the administration’s initiative to reform sports after Nigeria’s failure at the 2012 Olympics, former Minister, National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, said in a media interview: “We were lucky we have a President Goodluck Jonathan that understood the significance of sports and he immediately convened a presidential retreat. It was the first time ever that sports will be getting that level of attention at the highest level of political authority in Nigeria. The President sat through the 14 hours of the retreat...”

That is practical leadership.

GOING FOR A MAN OF HUMILITY

Humility is, ordinarily, a virtue. With humility, there is a down-to-earth disposition, a readiness to listen to others, a willingness to accord honour to whom honour is due and a desire to forge co-operation even with those who disagree with you. For President Jonathan, humility is a defining value which cannot be compromised. Coming from a humble background in Otuoke, Bayelsa State, he grew up going to school without shoes. This is a part of his story that he is ever willing to tell in order to inspire hope in millions of Nigerians who also have humble beginnings. As President of Nigeria, he has done the unthinkable many times - bowing in reverence to men of God, elder statesmen and other senior citizens. To his opponents, this is “demeaning”. His humility is, in their judgment, devaluing the office of the President of Nigeria. This easily calls to mind the story of King David in the Holy Bible also known as Prophet Dauda in the Holy Quran. When the Ark of Covenant was being moved from one location to the other, David forgot his status and danced in reverence to God. His wife, Michal, berated him for belittling the throne with his “unbefitting” public conduct. She died childless while God called David “the man after my own heart”. Humility is not a vice.

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PREFERRING A BIRD IN HAND

Anybody who listens to the opposition will conclude that they have the magic wand to solve Nigeria’s problems. They criticise virtually every programme and policy of the Jonathan administration. They criticise the administration’s records in education, power, healthcare, roads, agriculture, job creation, anti-graft war and, in fact, everything. They promise that if they are elected into power, they will solve all of Nigeria’s problems. Not so fast! Charity, they say, begins at home. The governors that were elected on the platform of the opposition - or those who defected to the party along the line - can hardly claim to have solved these problems of their states.

How many of them have transformed healthcare and education in their states?

How many of them have vigorously fought corruption in their states? How many of them have created jobs for their youths?

How many have done rural electrification?

Is it when they get to Aso Rock that they will suddenly become magicians? Wise voters will give President Jonathan a chance to continue what he has started.

The grass always looks greener on the other side. But all indications are that the opposition will fumble abysmally if given power. They are only fantastic at media wars.

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10 reasons to vote jonathan again

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A defining moment of President Jonathan’s political career was perhaps the constitutional crisis created by sickness to President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. He was terminally ill and was unable to meet the constitutional requirement that he should send a letter to the National Assembly to allow his then Vice-President, Dr. Jonathan, to act in his prolonged absence. Aware that there could be breakdown of law and order if he assumed power without legal authorisation, President Jonathan resisted pressure to take critical decisions that were beyond his powers.

He wanted things done the proper way as expected in democracy, where rule of law is king. He believed a public consensus was needed to resolve the crisis. This inspired an unprecedented public mobilisation across the country.

Former presidents and heads of state, governors, prominent statesmen and women, traditional rulers, clerics, civil society groups, politicians, lawmakers, journalists and mass movements all rallied round to arrive at a consensus that the right thing must be done. The National Assembly thereafter invoked the “doctrine of necessity” to resolve the logjam. It remains a significant landmark in Nigeria’s history - and a testament to President Jonathan’s philosophy of consensus-building.

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WE NEED A CONSENSUSBUILDER

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RESILIENT AND UNSHAKABLE DETERMINATION

President Jonathan has been described as “weak” by many political commentators who have not taken time to study his personality. He is humble, no doubt. He is a consensusbuilder, evidently. He has openly said he is no Nebuchadnezzar and should not be compared to military dictators.

All these facts have, however, been mistaken for “weakness”. The belief that he is “weak” has also led to careless and disrespectful statements by the opposition, who use words such as “clueless” and “kindergarten” to describe him. However, the President is obviously a strong character who is unwavering once he is convinced that he is on the right path. For him to run in 2011 with all the intimidation and threats of violence by those opposed to his candidature, all thoughts that he is weak should have been perished by now. The ferocious violence unleashed by the Boko Haram sect after the 2011 elections should be enough to intimidate a weakling out of his authority. But the President has taken full control of the situation. Even the calculated blitzkrieg of the opposition, with their massive media war chest and deafening rabblerousing, has not dissuaded the President from his focus and determination to lead the country to greatness. Now that is resilience.

ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS

Politicians like to boast and make millions of promises in order to get elected. They promise voters heaven and earth. They speak glowingly about how bad the sitting government has been and how they will turn the country into el Dorado if they are elected into office. Unfortunately, talk is cheap. Anybody can say anything.

Anybody can make any promise. President Jonathan, however, is a deviation from the norm. He believes action speaks louder than words. Here are a few examples. He did not promise to rebuild Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. He simply awarded the contract and work has started. He did not make much noise about transforming the lives of farmers. He simply went into action.

Fertilisers and input seeds are now readily available to the farmers and their outputs are doubling and tripling in a matter of three years. He did not make any noise about Almajiris and girl-child education: he simply set up schools for them to give them a future.

what they said...

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THE MAN CONSOLIDATING DEMOCRACY In the past, governors were illegally removed from office. Senate Presidents and Speakers were impeached or removed with impunity. Court orders and judgments were disobeyed willingly. Contracts were terminated without recourse to the rule of law. All these happened even when Nigerians thought they had entered the era of democracy. Since Dr. Jonathan was elected President of Nigeria, the country has made tremendous progress in its democratisation agenda. He does not interfere in the affairs of the National Assembly, even when it is clear that some principal officers have been a tool in the hand of the opposition. While the chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were being removed at will in the past, he has refused to toe that path, preferring that things take their natural course. It is not uncommon to hear people say: “If this affront had happened under a different president, EFCC would have arrested his opponent by now...” He has also helped to consolidate democracy through free and fair elections. An opposition governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole of Edo state, had this to say after his re-election in 2012: “I am glad that Mr. President kept to his words of assurance that there would be no thuggery, hooliganism and violence during the Edo Governorship Election. He is indeed a statesman, a man of honour because there was adequate and effective presence of security agents on ground. I am impressed because the army actually played a neutral role in the election.”

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“all indications are that the opposition will fumble abysmally if given power. They are only fantastic at media wars.”

A VISIONARY IN EVERY SENSE

When President Jonathan decided to establish 12 new universities some years ago, you would have concluded that he had committed a crime. His opponents came roaring in simulated disgust.

Some said he should just “improve” the standards of the existing universities and forget about establishing new ones.

That was acute short-sightedness. There are three major problems confronting university education in Nigeria today: one, insufficient capacity to take new students; two, lack of enough funding; three, insufficient teaching capacity. President Jonathan is taking a holistic approach to the problems by increasing student intake capacity (and freeing the streets of thousands of admission-seeking youths), doubling funding of universities and improving the capacity of lecturers through re-training and further education. That is foresight. The President has launched an industrial revolution plan to turn Nigeria to a manufacturing hub in Africa. Nigeria will soon starting exporting rice and producing cars. That is vision. Only a proven visionary deserves our votes. President Jonathan is the man for the job.

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what they said...

Vital Statistics

Travel Times on Nigerian Roads Corridor

BEFORE JONATHAN

UNDER JONATHAN

Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Expressway

4 hours

2 hours

Onitsha-Owerri Expressway

3 hours

1 hour

Benin-Ore-Shagamu-Lagos Expressway

9 hours

4 hours

Gombe-Numan-Yola Expressway

6 hours

3 hours

Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja-Mfum Highway

8 hours

3 hours

Lagos-Ibadan-Ilorin Highway

6 hours

3.5 hours

Otukpa-Ayangba-Ajaokuta-Lokoja Rd

4 hours

1.5 hours

Jebba-Lafiaji-Mokwa Road

2 hours

45mins

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what they said...

35,000km

4,500km

There are 35,000km of federal roads.

There were 4,500km in motorable condition before President Goodluck Jonathan came to power.

25,000km President Jonathan has constructed or rehabilitated 25,000km between 2010 and 2014.

Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road dualization

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what they said...

Benin-Ore-Shagamu Expressway: rebuilt after decades of neglect

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LAGOS IBADAN EXPRESSWAY

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Kano-Maiduguri road Eastern Bypass

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what they said...

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what they said...

Enugu-Abakaliki road

Abakaliki-Mbok (Ogoja Junction) road

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Onitsha-Owerri dual Carriageway

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loko-oweto bridge, benue-nasarawa states

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model of Murtala Muhammed International Airport Approach road, Lagos, to be constructed through Public Private Partnership

President Jonathan turning the sod for the $1bn Azura-Edo Independent Power Project, the first fully financed plant. It will deliver 450 megawatts of power when completed Forward

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Kashimbila Dam and Hydropower Station, Taraba State: capable of delivering 40megawatts, irrigation of 2000 hectares of land and 500million cubic metres of water

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what they said...

Jabi residential area, AbujA

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Over 61,000 housing units have been built in six geopolitical zones to provide affordable and quality houses

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Are you better off today than in 2011?

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what they said...

Let the facts and figures guide you

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then and now

$510billion

The rebased GDP of Nigeria in 2013, compared to $169bn in 2009. It is now Africa’s biggest economy

N1.4trillion

Food import bill before Jonathan became president. It is now less than N700bn

$1billion

Seed money for the newly established Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) to save for future generations of Nigerians, fund infrastructural spending and stabilise the economy. The fund has grown to $1.4billion

N13.23trillion Market value of stocks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December 31, 2013. It was N9.92 trillion in 2009. All Share Index also moved from 25,000.00 points at the end of 2009 to 38,016.80 in 2013

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then and now

“The stronger the boat (of democracy), the more it is able to meet the challenges of its voyage and deliver on its promise to citizens” – GEJ

“The air of freedom we breathe today is the result of the sacrifices of thousands of pro-democracy activists, human rights campaigners and others who organised as civil society” – GEJ Forward

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then and now

“My political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian” – GEJ

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“No minister will be allowed to go on a mission of endless search for solutions” – GEJ

then and now

50,000

Approximate number of ghost workers identified through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Over N139 billion has been saved through the system

$8billion

Approximate value of foreign investment Nigeria attracted in 2013, making the country the No. 1 destination for foreign investment in Africa, after years of playing second fiddle.

1.5million

Number of insurance policy holders, compared to less than 500,000 in 2009

$4billion

Investments attracted to the agricultural sector as a result of reform

52 Years

Life expectancy at birth, an improvement on the 47 years before Jonathan

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then and now

400

Nigerian-owned crude oil transportation tankers, compared to less than 60 in 2009

75%

Improvement in the domestic gas supply as a result of the emergency gas supply programme

1.1million metric tonnes

Increase in rice production in Northern states in 2013 as a result of the Agricultural Transformation Programme

62%

Nigeria’s literacy rate, up from 54% before Jonathan

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then and now

“In the comfort of our offices, let us not forget that majority of our people live below the poverty line” – GEJ

“Where there is no opportunity for one man one vote, there will be no accountability and no responsibility” – GEJ

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then and now

“We may not have overcome our challenges, but neither have our challenges overcome us” – GEJ

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“I prefer to see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the silver lining” – GEJ

then and now

130,000

barrels

Volume of crude oil production per day by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC), compared to zero before

400%

increase in Silo capacity under President Jonathan

500

Number of schools targeted in Safe Schools Initiative in Northern States

N60 billion

Amount realised at the launch of Victims Support Fund for those affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East

7 Days

How long it takes to clear trouble-free cargo, down from 39 days before. Number of agencies at the ports has been reduced from 13 to 7, streamlining bureaucratic and financial requirements for clearance and decongestion

5million

Passengers carried by rail yearly compared to 1 million before Jonathan

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then and now

15 years

How long Lagos-Kano, Port HarcourtMaiduguri and Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri rail lines were moribund before President Jonathan rehabilitated them

N53billion Fresh investment in downstream oil sector, leading to additional 71 fuel depots in 2013

30 years

The last time Nigeria’s airport infrastructure underwent any major make-over. All 22 federallyowned airports are being remodelled and renovated, resulting in improved passenger experience

1000

Girls and women beneficiaries of Girls and Women in Nigeria (GWiN programme)

0

Ebola infections in Nigeria, after a successful management of the outbreak caused by an infected Liberian traveller

422m cubic metres

Volume of water added to the country’s reservoir with the completion of dam projects in Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Enugu and Ondo States

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then and now

“Any society or country that closes the vital valves of its democratic space cannot develop at a reasonable pace” – GEJ

“Terrorism has no conscience and spares no one” – GEJ

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then and now

“Our votes must count! One man, one vote! One woman, one vote! One youth, one vote!”

– GEJ

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“In presenting myself for service, I make no pretence that I have a magic wand that will solve all of Nigeria’s problems or that I am the most intelligent Nigerian” – GEJ

then and now

6million

Number of Nigerian farmers on the e-wallet platform who now receive subsidised farm inputs without middlemen, thereby checkmating decades of corruption in the system. Over N50 billion saved so far from the fraud

1.07million

metric tones

Increase in farm output following the introduction of dry season farming through irrigation in 10 northern states - Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Niger, Kogi and Bauchi in 2013

7million metric tones

Paddy rice added to national production since 2011

$1.2billion Forex demand saved through local sufficiency in cement production

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then and now

433,650

Number of lives saved under the “Saving One Million Lives� initiative from November 2012 to June 2013 through scaling up of six cost-effective interventions including Maternal & child health, nutrition, prevention of Mother to child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, Provision of Essential commodities, Malaria control, routine immunisation and eradication of polio

$15million

Fund launched to support venture capital in the ICT sector, the first of its kind

0

New Type-3 wild polio virus recorded in Nigeria in the last one year - the first time ever

0

New guinea worm infection in Nigeria

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then and now

“I have come to launch a campaign of ideas, not one of calumny. I have come to preach love, not hate. I have come to break you away from divisive tendencies of the past which have slowed our drive to true nationhood. I have no enemies to fight. You are all my friends and we share a common destiny” – GEJ

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then and now

“God is a God of diversity. God created a diverse world for His own purpose. What will the world look like if all of us were of the same height, colour, gender, nationality and ethnicity? I think it will be boring” – GEJ

“For the PDP family, the contest for party offices does not produce winners and losers” – GEJ

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“We are all Nigerians and I will be a President to all.

This is the new dawn we crave” – GEJ

then and now

125

Number of Almajiri boarding schools built by the Federal Government

$13 billion

The MOU signed with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) for construction of the 650km hi-speed coastal railway from Calabar all the way to Port Harcourt, Benin City and Lagos. The new line will have a single-track length of 1385km with trains running at up to 120km/h. The 22-station line will cross 10 of Nigeria’s 36 states.

13 years

How long ago Nigeria had not won a medal at the World Athletics Championship until Blessing Okagbare won two at Moscow 2013

7000

Federal Government has sponsored 7,000 lecturers of federal and state tertiary institutions for postgraduate studies home and abroad to improve the quality of instruction since 2011. This is unprecedented.

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then and now

19 years

How long it took the Super Eagles to win another Africa Cup of Nations, having last won it in 1994

Double Champions

Nigeria is the first African country to hold the football titles for men and women, after the Super Falcons won the 9th African Women Championship in Namibia, beating Cameroon 2-0 in the final.

6,720,000

Number of tree seedlings raised in seven front line states: Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Yobe, Sokoto and Borno States to combat desertification 44

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then and now

“Our founding fathers... did not dream of a country where neighbours and friends would exchange bullets in place of handshakes” – GEJ

“We are not sworn enemies...

We are neighbours who sometimes offend each other but can always sit down to talk over our differences” – GEJ

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footprint

46

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ts Transformation at a Glance

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Completed and Marked section of Abuja-Lokoja road

Economic Management 7%

At GDP Growth, Nigeria’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world The UN Conference on Trade and development has named Nigeria as the No. 1 destination for investments in Africa, attracting over $8bn in Foreign direct investment (FDI) In 2013, 1.6 million jobs were created directly and indirectly as a result of Federal Government initiatives Exchange Rate has stabilised between N155 and N160 in the last three years Inflation Rate now 8% (December 2013), down from 12.4% in 2011. It is projected to be at single digit for another year

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External Reserves have reached $42.9billion, one of Nigeria’s highest ever

The Sovereign Wealth Fund has been established with three components: Stability Fund, infrastructure Fund and Future Generation Fund. this will help protect the economy against future shocks and provide for future generations of Nigerians Nigeria’s $1 billion Eurobond was oversubscribed - a sign of confidence in the country’s economy Nigeria’s budget deficit of 1.85% to GDP is one of the lowest in the world

Recurrent Expenditure, a major budgetary headache for decades, is now on the downward trend

Job Creation The introduction of the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) has improved the acquisition, allocation, utilisation and conservation of public financial resources, using automated and integrated, effective, efficient and economic information systems Personnel costs are being reduced through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (ippis). Over N139.6 billion has been saved and 50,000 ghost workers identified through ippis With the Treasury Single Account (TSA) structure of government bank accounts, there is now a consolidated view of the cash position; 93 Mdas are currently on tsa and over government has gone from an overdraft of N102 billion in 2011 to an average credit balance of N86 billion in 2013

NON-OIL EXPORTS Imports of textiles, plastic & rubber, paper & paper-making material have

dropped

Key government programmes focused on direct job creation include: 1) Community Service Scheme (SURE-P) To engage 320,000 youths in labourintensive work such as construction and rehabilitation of social and economic infrastructure About 120,000 employed so far 2) Graduate Internship Scheme (SURE-P) The Scheme aims to attach 50,000 graduates to competent firms to enhance skills development towards employability 4,000 graduates have been matched so far 3) YOUWIN! • The Business Plan Competition has successfully run two of its three cycles and is now in its third cycle 2400 winners have been selected and 26,000 jobs have been directly created in different sectors of the economy. at least 80,000 jobs are expected by 2015

CREDIT RATING Nigeria’s Credit Ratings have improved because of the strong economic indices, thereby opening up international opportunities for Nigerian financial institutions and other companies

Exports of plastic & rubber, vegetable products, prepared foodstuff and beverages are on the increase Non-oil exports have increased to 31%, up from 8% five years ago

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Murtala Muhammed Int'l airport, Lagos

FINANCIAL MARKETS The banking sector has been well managed and cleaned up in the aftermath of the financial markets crisis of 2008/2009 All 24 Nigerian banks are now fully stable and adequately capitalised Non-Performing Loans have fallen to about 5% The capital market also recovered significantly after a series of policy interventions

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Stock market capitalisation (value of listed companies) has increased to N13.23

trillion

Non-interest banking has been introduced to offer more options to Nigerians in their quest for banking services as well as accommodate cultural and religious differences in the credit system

OIL AND GAS There has been stable supply of petroleum products as well as efficient administration of the subsidy programme at reduced costs Mobilisation has begun for a new free trade zone in Ogidigben, Delta State, with worldclass petrochemical and fertilizer plants to be built, creating over five million jobs across the value chain Gas flaring has been reduced from 24% to

18% between 2011 and 2012 - as a result of the encouragement of accelerated gas development projects

The diligent implementation of the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta has helped to increase oil production from preamnesty level of 700,000 bpd to the current

2,500,000 bpd

Nigeria will soon become a major player in the international gas market through the implementation of the Nigerian Gas Master plan Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) programme is in full progress with 2000 cars already converted in Benin Domestic gas supply to support the power sector has increased by 72% as part of the emergency gas supply programme

Insurance

Government’s effort at encouraging indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry has produced an oil terminalling facility (Ebok terminal) established by an indigenous company, with a current daily crude oil production of 7,000 barrel per day and a plateau production of 50,000 bpd at full capacity

Through the introduction of microinsurance, compliance with compulsory insurance, more Nigerians are now aware of insurance policies

Nigerians now own crude oil transportation tankers, flying Nigerian flags. Nigerian- owned marine vessels have increased from 54 to 388, creating employment for over 30,000 Nigerians

Number of policy holders has also increased from 700,000 in 2010 to 1.5 million in 2012

Onne Oil & Gas free trade zone has created 30,000 jobs directly and indirectly The 136km gas pipeline from Oben to Geregu has been completed

Claims paid increased from N37 billion in 2010 to N52 billion in 2012

The 31km Itoki to Olorunsogo gas pipeline has also been completed

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INFRASTRUCTURE:

PORTS

INFRASTRUCTURE:

RAIL

Rail lines that had been moribund for 15 years have either undergone or are still undergoing rehabilitation and modernisation: Lagos-Kano, Port Harcourt-Maiduguri, Abuja-Kaduna and Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Ports operating 24 hours first time since 1970

for the

Clearing time has reduced from 39 days to 7 days for trouble-free cargo The number of agencies at the ports has been reduced from 13 to 7, streamlining bureaucratic and financial requirements for clearance and decongestion

Passengers carried by rail were 4.2 million in 2012, compared to 1 million three years earlier

Rehabilitation of the Lagos-IbadanOshogbo-Ilorin-Minna-Kaduna-ZariaKano narrow Gauge rail line has been completed Container cargo freight services from Apapa Port complex have

commenced

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what they said...

INFRASTRUCTURE:

WATERWAYS

The Inland Waterways provide alternative means of transporting goods, agricultural produce and services at relatively low rates

Dredging of Lower River Niger from Baro (Niger state) to Warri (Delta state) has allowed all-year navigation Onitsha Port has been completed, while Baro Port, Lokoja Port and Oguta Port are under construction Volume of cargo transported in the inland waterways has doubled in the last two years Number of passengers travelling by water was

1.3 million in 2012, compared to a mere

250,000 the previous year

Contracts are on course for the

dredging of the Lower River Benue and Makurdi River Ports To ease congestion at the ports, government has approved the establishment of six inland container

depots

INFRASTRUCTURE:

AVIATION Rehabilitation of the Port HarcourtAba- Umuahia-Enugu-Makurdi-LafiaKuru- Bauchi-Gombe-Ashaka-Maiduguri with branch lines at Kuru to Jos and Kafanchan- Kaduna narrow gauge rail line is at various stages of completion 25 new locomotives have been supplied by General Electric, while over 200 coaches and wagons have been refurbished General Electric has committed to developing a locomotive assembly facility in Nigeria to handle 200 locomotives in the next 10 years

For the first time ever, Nigeria has an aviation Master plan and road Map There has been a robust revision of the Civil aviation national policy for the first time in over 12 years.

For the first time in over three decades, all 22 federally-owned airports across the country are being remodelled, resulting in improved passenger experience For the first time also, five modern international passenger terminals are being constructed simultaneously in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and Enugu

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nnamdi azikiwe international airport, abuja

Obsolete power infrastructure is being replaced/upgraded across major airports in the country

Fire-fighting infrastructure now state-of- the-art across the airports

Installation of an Accident Investigation and analysis laboratory in nigeria. it is one of the only four in Africa and the only one in the West African sub-region Designation of six Hajj and six Christian pilgrim terminals

Installation of cutting-edge

navigational aids and instruments landing systems (ILS), including runway lights and total radar coverage (TRACON), to enhance air safety

Upgrade of NCAT’s training

capabilities, expanding beneficial relationships that support training and human capital development in the aviation sector

Installation of modern, state-of-the-

art communication and surveillance infrastructure, making communication between air traffic controllers (ATCS) and pilots much more seamless State-of-the-art Meteorological infrastructure (doppler Weather radars, low-level Wind shear alerts systemsllWsas) to enhance accurate, timely weather observation, forecasting and reporting

Security infrastructure is also being

replaced/upgraded to cope with emerging security challenges

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Restructuring of Parastatals to deliver best performance and services Restructuring of the Nigerian Civil Aviation authority (ncaa) to expand and promote safety oversight, surveillance and human capital development in the industry Development of comprehensive

economic and consumer protection regulations, including a statement of passenger rights

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More friendly operating environment for domestic carriers New

leasing company for Aircraft

Six airports, namely Jos, Makurdi, Yola, Jalingo, lagos and ilorin, which are strategically located in proximity to food baskets have been designated as perishable cargo airports and international standards perishable cargo facilities are being developed at these airports. a new cargo development division has been established in Faan to give focus to this effort

Streamlining of General Aviation (GA) to eliminate unauthorised commercial operations, promote scheduled airlines’ profitability and safety

Elimination of unfavourable Concession and lease agreements that were inconsistent with the public interest, industry growth and advancement Promotion of private sector and international investors’ participation in Nigerian aviation sector Deployment of modern technology and digitisation of records and processes Creation of cutting-edge revenue collection solutions which eliminate corruption, increase revenue and promotes transparency and efficiency Stringent regime of enforcement, reward for complete compliance and denial of privileges for violations

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Geregu Power Plants

INFRASTRUCTURE:

POWER

Average hours of power availability in 10 major cities has increased from a low of less than nine hours in 2011 to around 15 hours today Licensing has been done to facilitate privatisation of 34 ipps

President Jonathan launched the Nigerian power sector reform roadmap in 2010 to address the power supply deficit Unbundled PHCN companies (11 distribution and 6 generation companies) have been successfully privatised and handed over to new owners The Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) has been established to drive private sector investment into the industry by executing bankable power purchase agreements with power developers The transmission of power has been concessioned to upgrade and expand the national grid network

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Federal Government has entered into an MoU with worldwide leaders in the power sector, General Electric, to invest up to 15% equity in power projects in the country summing up to 10,000mw capacity by the year 2020 GE also proposes to establish local packaging facility for small aero-derivative turbines in Nigeria An MoU with similar commitment has also been signed with siemens, Germany. siemens proposes to increase thermal generating capacity of up to 10,000mw by investing equity of 15% per Independent power project

The PoweWaterr Construction Corporation (PCC) of China has signed an MoU with the Federal Government to invest in the construction of 20,000mw gas power and 10,000km transmission line

New units at the thermal power stations have been completed to increase existing generation capacity. this was done in the following locations: Olorunshogo in Ogun State, 563MW; Sapele in Delta State, 225 MW; and Omotosho in Ondo state, 112.5MW Xian Electric Engineering Co. Ltd has signed an Mou for the financing and turnkey delivery of nigerian transmission upgrading project to the tune of

$1billion

Expansion of gas supply and infrastructure

New procurement for power from IPPs (Greenfield)

Commencement of the development of 2 x 1000mw coal-fired power plants at Enugu, Gombe, Kogi and Benue axis; and 27 small/medium hydropower projects

Siemens will also establish an incountry service workshop as well as fund the study of an integration of renewable energy sources to conventional source The Federal Government has signed an MoU with Daewoo E &c of Korea to invest up to 20% equity per project summing up to 10,000mw Eletrobras of Brazil also signed an MoU with the Federal Government to invest in both thermal and hydro generating sources as well as in the transmission network of Nigeria The Ex-Im Bank of the United States of america signed an Mou with the Federal Government to provide an investment window of up to $1.5billion for investors willing to invest in the nigerian power sector. this is the first time such an amount will be made available by the US Exim Bank for a specific sector in Africa

Ground breaking ceremony for the 700MW Zungeru hydro plant in Niger State

Kick-off of the Access to Power Initiative (operation Electrify Nigeria) of the Federal Ministry of Power Lifeline tariff of N4/kwh for those consuming below 50 kwh/month Ongoing negotiation on Mambila hydroelectric power project award to produce 3050MW of electricity The Technical Monitoring Committee has been constituted by Federal Ministry of Finance to coordinate African Development Bank’s support loan of $185.2 million to the power sector Two private sector-led, federal government- backed solar plants of 1000mw each under construction in Yobe and Kano States

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Vom-Manchok Road, Plateau State

INFRASTRUCTURE:

ROADS

Onitsha-Owerri and Vom-Manchok roads have been completed Onitsha-Enugu road and Lokoja-Benin road are being reconstructed and

expanded A total of 2000 kilometres of road were built or rehabilitated as at the end of 2013 - the highest in a single year by any government Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, Benin- OreShagamu highway and Enugu- Port Harcourt dual carriage are being

reconstructed

Kano-Maiduguri and Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja are undergoing dualisation Oweto Bridge across River Benue is being

constructed

Construction works have also commenced on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway reconstruction and Expansion

Second Niger Bridge project has been concessioned to Julius Berger/AIM consortium. Early works have commenced Work is progressing on the Reconstruction of Mokwa-Bide Road, Akure-Ilesha Road, SokotoTambuwal-Jega road, Enugu- Abakaliki Road, Ogoja-Ikom Road and VandekiyaObudu Road, among others

Commencement of sustained

Preventive Road Maintenance programme along all critical Federal roads nationwide

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Quick intervention/

communication call lines for publicGovernment interaction on conditions of Federal roads nationwide

Commencement of full-scale production of cold asphaltic concrete

mix for all year round intervention on road failures all over the country

Systematic replacement of weak box culverts with short bridges and reinstatement of vandalised bridge handrails along critical highways Provision of road support services to over 90 locations for accident victims (first aid) and police intervention on flash points nationwide

Commencement of the National

Joint programme of action against road abuses and routine surveillance to prolong road pavement life span and protect road assets nationwide

Effective routine use of over 40 mini asphalt plant for regular production and utilization of hot rolled asphalt for proactive road maintenance works

Recovery and sustained maintenance of over 60% of Federal Roads total length Increased good and safe motorable length of Federal Roads from about 52% (17,742km) to over 83% (28,320km) Procurement and distribution of 38 stateof-the-art Bergkamp FP5 Mobile Pothole patchers for all-year round road repairs

Ensuring sustained vegetation control along major Federal highways thus improving intervisibility, checking the heinous activities of hoodlums along highways and reducing the rate of accidents due to blind curves and overgrown weed

Provision of street lightings along usually dark urban stretches of Federal highways and major bridges across the country

Installation and commencement of asphaltic concrete production from two Major 80tph FErMa asphalt plants in 2012

Introduction of the FERMA-SURE P public works programme, engaging and training over 6,000 Nigerian youths on road maintenance works thereby creating a social safety net and road ownership attitude with abutting communities

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The Otobi-Otukpo Water Works, Benue

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water resources Seven water supply projects have been completed, providing about 4.3 million Nigerians access to potable water Over 4,000 jobs were created in the process As at 2012, 65.29% of the population had access to safe water, compared to 60% in 2011 Nine dams have been completed in Akwa Ibom, Katsina, Enugu and Ondo States to increase volume of nation’s water reservoir by 422mcm

Size of irrigated area has more than doubled from 90,000 hectares in 2010 to 175,000 hectares in 2012 and increased production of over 400,000 metric tonnes of irrigated food products

375,000 farmers had access to

irrigated land in 2012, up from 236,000 in 2011

Progress has been made on major

projects such as the south chad irrigation project, the Bakolori Irrigation Project and the Galma dam

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Rice Revolution: Soon Nigeria will become a net exporter of rice

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Credit: Shutterstock

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President Goodluck Jonathan presses button to commission the Bagging Section of Olam Rice Farm Nigeria in Rukubi, Nasarawa State

AGRICULTURE Four decades of corruption in fertilizer and seed distribution ended with direct access by farmers, thereby saving the government N25 billion in 2012 alone Over 250,000 farmers and youths in northern states now profitably engaged in farming First ever database of farmers has been developed with 6 million farmers registered and now being updated/ monitored annually Nigeria is first African country to develop e-wallet for input delivery to farmers, eliminating sharp practices by middlemen Private sector seed and fertilizer companies now sell directly to farmers. over N15 billion of fertilizers and N1.5 billion of seeds were sold directly via e-wallet system 64

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Dry season production through irrigation kick-started in 10 northern states - Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Niger, Kogi and Bauchi resulting in an output of 1.07 million metric tonnes Combined production of Dry Season and Main season paddy now 1.76 million metric tonnes - unprecedented in Nigeria’s history Government policies have led to the establish- ment of 13 new rice mills by private investors Nigeria is on the road to being selfsufficient in rice production Production has expanded for high quality cassava flour to substitute

imported wheat in the baking industry

There is further boost for non-oil export as China has ordered 3.2 million metric tonnes of dried cassava chips for ethanol production

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housing Nigeria’s food import bill reduced from N1.1 trillion in 2011 to N648 billion in 2012, placing the country firmly on the path to food self-sufficiency Over 8 million metric tonnes of food were added to domestic supply in 2012, about 70% above projection The government recently launched a selfemployment initiative under the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) called the Nagropreneur programme. this scheme, designed to encourage youth to go into commercial agriculture as entrepreneurs, plans to develop over 750,000 young Nagropreneurs by 2015 The Federal Government launched staple crop processing Zones to support investments in the entire agricultural value chain. At present, there are significant private investment commitments from agribusiness ventures such as: Flour Mills of Nigeria, the dangote Group, syngenta, Indorama, AGCO, and Belstar Capital In 2012, 2.2 million metric tonnes of cassava chips were exported, exceeding the target by over 100% while the 40% substitution of cassava for wheat has been achieved through research and collaboration with the iita and Federal institute for industrial research There was a decline in wheat imports to Nigeria from an all-time high of 4,051,000 Mt in 2010 to 3,700,000MT in 2012 President Jonathan has launched the Dry season Farm support programme to encourage dry season farming with n14bn, representing an increase of 56% over the 2013 season. Over 600,000 farmers registered, representing an increase of 125% over 2013 President Jonathan has launched the National Schools Agriculture Programme (NSAP) aimed at developing a new generation of Nigerian youth agriculture enthusiasts from secondary schools. This will dissuade those who think farming is for old people and for subsistence living only

Over 61,000 housing units have been built in six geopolitical zones to provide affordable and quality houses The Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing company (nMrc), a ppp arrangement, has been set up to enable up to 200,000 affordable mortgages within five years World Bank has agreed to support Federal Government with investment of up to $300 million zero-interest, 40-year loan, 10 years grace and 0.7% commitment charge - to lower costs, particularly lending rates

MANUFACTURING With the large domestic market, the policy is geared towards encouraging import substitution where Nigeria has a comparative advantage, and exports, wherewe can be competitive internationally

Federal Government has devel-

oped the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) on the entire value chain of sub-sectors such agro-processing (e.g. rice milling, sugar procession, cassava for wheat flour and other products, etc., consumer goods manufacturing, cement, textiles, and petrochemicals)

It has also developed the Sugar Master Plan (NSMS) to provide roadmap for 100% local production of sugar Nigeria is now a net exporter of cement.

Nigeria has moved from producing 2 million metrictonnes of cement in 2002 to a capacity of 28.5 million metric tonnes today With no permit issued in 2012 for cement importation, savings of over N200 billionwere made

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MANUFACTURING The Onne Oil and Gas Free zone has been transformed with $6 billion invested leading to the attraction of 150 companies into thezone with 30,000 jobs created to date Foreign investments in manufacturing have been on the rise e.g. Indorama’s $1.2 billion fertilizer plant at Onne, Procter & Gamble’s $250 million consumer goods plant in Ogun State, SAB Miller’s $100 million brewery at Onitsha Nigeria has negotiated a strong Common External Tariff (CET) agreement with our ECOWAS partners which would enable us to protect our strategic industries where necessary

ICT Government currently delivers more than 50 services online, including passport and driving licence application process compared to 30 at the end of 2012

250 websites hosted on “.gov.ng” platform and 420 MDAs connected Nigerian e-commerce companies are some of the fastest growing companies in the world

Two IT Development Entrepreneur Accelerators (iDEA hubs) have been launched in Yaba, Lagos and Tinapa, Cross River State

27 Federal Universities connected via

10GBps meshed trunk circuits, to form the Nigerian Research & Education Network (Ng REN) with connectivity to other international research networks National Broadband Plan approved in

May 2013

NigComSat-1R satellite was launched to provide more options for distributed access and rural connectivity The IT transformation has also led to online shopping in Nigeria, previously unheard of. Value of online shopping grew 25% to N62.4 billion in 2011 from N49.9 billion in 2010

ICT Government policies have helped the telecoms sector to grow exponentially The ICT sector is the fastest growing sector in the country The telecommunications industry currently contributes 8.53% to the GDP, compared to 0.62% in 2001 Mobile phone/voice penetration has increased to 85.25% of the population, compared to 0.73% in 2001 There are over 50 million mobile internet subscriptions in Nigeria

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Nigeria has developed locally produced tablets, equivalent to the iPad Construction of 500km of fibre-optic cable to rural areas, with 3,000km more targeted for deployment in 2013/2014 A total of 266 Public Access Venues were established in 2013: 156 Rural IT Centres, 110 Community Communication Centres

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HEALTH Facilitation of the deployment of mobile communications base stations in rural areas of Nigeria. A total of 59 Base Stations have been installed thus far, with an additional 1,000 planned for 2014

Provision of wholesale internet

bandwidth to Internet Service Providers, Cybercafes, and ICT centres like Community Communication Centres (CCC) in rural communities – connectivity to 12 out of 18 pilot sites completed Provision of computing facilities to 74 tertiary institutions and 218 public schools across the country Establishment of innovation centres to support entrepreneurs in the ICT sector and a Venture Capital fund of $15 million for ICT businesses

There has been an improved access to primary healthcare Under the “Saving One Million Lives” initiative, over 433,650 lives were saved from November 2012 to June 2013 by scaling up six cost-effective interventions including Maternal & Child Health, Nutrition, Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, Provision of Essential Commodities, Malaria Control, Routine Immunisation/ Eradication of Polio

1500 primary healthcare facilities

have been refurbished and supplied with essential drugs

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Several teaching hospitals and medical centres have been rehabilitated and modernised e.g. OAU and UNIBEN teaching hospitals

Health insurance coverage increased from 6% in 2011 to 8% in 2013

Establishment of the Nigeria

The National Immunisation Coverage increased from 38% in 2012 to 82% in 2013

Centre for Disease Control (NDCD)

Maternal mortality has dropped by more than 50% in Midwives Service Scheme (MSS) facilities from 2009 to 2012 MOU has been signed with General Electric (GE) for the establishment of private world class specialist hospitals and diagnostic centres under PPP arrangement Overseas component of the Residency Training Programme to build the capacity of health professionals with 60 doctors benefiting Open heart surgeries have resumed at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu since March, 2013 and over 25 patients have so far been operated successfully. This was followed by the resumption of open heart surgery at the University College Hospital Ibadan in October, 2013 The country has reduced the prevalence of malaria in children Capacity for kidney transplant has been

strengthened within the last one year with Lagos University Teaching Hospital and University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital joining the league

Since the launch of the CommunityBased Health Insurance Scheme, the scheme has been fully established in a number of communities in 12 states, thereby granting medical access to poor Nigerians

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Under-5 mortality is down to 94/1000 live births from 157/1000 live births Maternal Mortality ratio has reduced from 545/100,000 in 2008 to 350/100,000 livebirths in 2012 Total elimination of malaria is the next target of the government Guinea worm disease, which previously affected over 800,000 lives yearly, has been eradicated from Nigeria

Introduction, for the first time in the history of Nigeria, a curriculum for the training of paramedics In 2013, government recruited 11,300 frontline health workers who were deployed to under-served communities across the country Over 400,000 lives have been saved through various interventions For the first time in the history of the country, there has not been any transmission of the Type-3 Wild Polio virus for more than one year

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Pupils at the Bring Back the Book event in Lagos

EDUCATION

High Impact Fund to support higher institutions of learning has been established to become Centres of Excellence in specific areas. Each selected University gets N3 billion; Polytechnics and Colleges of Education

N1 billion

In order to reduce the 10.5 million out of school children in the country, a number of special intervention programmes such as the Almajiri Education, the Girl-Child Education and Back-to-School were initiated

A total of 101 Presidential Special Scholarships for Innovation and Development (PRESSID) have been awarded to beneficiaries for training in top 25 universities in the world

In 13 states, special girl schools are being constructed while in 27 states, 125 day and boarding schools are being constructed under the Almajiri education programme

As a result of these interventions, enrolment in basic schools increased from 23 million in 2010 to 29 million in 2012. This will further increase with the handing over of Almajiri Schools to state governments

12 new universities (9 in the North, 3 in the South) have been established to enhance access to a Federal University across the country and absorb thousands of students who are denied university admission every year

Over 100 Innovation Enterprise Institutions have been licensed to provide alternative access to higher education through technical and vocational education and training

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EDUCATION The number of National Certificate of Education (NCE) awarding institutions has increased from 96 to 124 since 2011 To improve the quality of instruction, Federal Government has sponsored 7,000 lecturers of federal and state tertiary institutions for post-graduate studies home and abroad Student enrolment in the Colleges of Education has increased from 620,000 in 2011 to 750,000 in 2013 – a 20% increase The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) is expanding its capacities to increase enrolment to 250,000 annually Laboratories in the 51 Federal and State Polytechnics have been rehabilitated with state-of-the-art equipment

Government has introduced the Female Teacher Trainee Scholarship Scheme to give opportunities to women from marginalised, remote, rural areas to acquire skills and knowledge and train as teachers

In 2013, Federal Government rehabilitated 352 laboratories and constructed 72 new libraries in the Federal Unity Schools

The Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWiN!) Programme has trained 12,000 aspiring or existing young entrepreneurs

Micro-teaching laboratories are being constructed in 58 Federal and State Colleges of Education across the Federation Between 2007 and 2013, Federal Government has almost tripled the allocation for education from N224 billion to N634 billion

62% Nigeria’s literacy rate, up from 54% before Jonathan

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YouWiN!

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YouWiN! is presently funding 1,200 entrepreneurs identified in the first round of the three round competition It has dentified 1,200 women in May 2013 across the six geopolitical zones to receive funding in the second round As at March 2013, a total of 12,108 jobs had been created across the country in the early stages of the first round. At least 80,000 jobs are expected by the end of the third round in 2015

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ARMED FORCES

The Nigerian Army Language Institute, conceived to make Army personnel bi-lingual within two years, has been

established

Development of a National Counter Terrorism Strategy (NACTEST)

Capacity, equipment and logistics have been overhauled for counterterrorism and counter insurgency Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Centre has been set

up

Department of Civil Military Affairs, Army Transformation and Innovation Centre and the Directorate of Campaign Planning have been established at the Army Headquarters New formations and units have been set up to enhance operational capability Compo Ration Manufacturing Factory has been established

Nigerian Army has built the first

locally made Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC)

The first made-in-Nigeria warship has come on board The first made-in-Nigeria unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or “drone�) named GULMA was built by the Nigerian Air Force There have been successful test flights of other UAVs named AMEBO II and AMEBO III and commencement of the design of AMEBO IV

Installation of ground stations for

real-time streaming of aerial surveillance pictures and videos

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the best of nollywood on a visit to president jonathan

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A Dozen Famous Li

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Lies A lot of lies and half-truths have been peddled against President Goodluck Jonathan for years.

No matter the rebuttals and clarifications, people will still believe whatever they want to believe.

That is essentially human nature, especially in a vicious political environment like ours.

GEORGE KERLEY

lists these allegations and provides the necessary answers for the benefit of those who are fairminded enough to know that there is always more than one side to a story

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The Farce President Jonathan has violated the law by refusing to declare his assets as required by the Constitution.

The Fact President Jonathan has always duly declared his assets as required by the laws of the land, right from the time he was Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State. However, as Vice-President in 2007, when he was asked to make public what he declared, he initially refused, insisting that he had fully complied with the laws which did not mandate him to make his assets public. After much pressure, especially when his boss, President Yar’Adua, made public his own declaration, Jonathan followed suit, even though he still maintained that it was not necessary.

In 2012, the issue came up again and he said clearly that he would not make his assets public because the law did not require it. This stance has been fully twisted and politicised, with some critics falsely claiming he refused to declare his assets. In fact, he declared his assets to the Code of Conduct Bureau as required by the Constitution – and not on the pages of newspapers. The claim that declaring assets publicly would enhance transparency is nothing but a hype. Many public officers rushed to declare their assets on the pages of newspapers in 2007 and we cannot claim transparency is now the guiding principle all over Nigeria today.

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The Farce The wife of President Jonathan was investigated and indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for money laundering.

The Fact This is one of the most oft-repeated lies about the First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan. It has been so repeated it is almost becoming the truth. But because truth is constant, the allegation remains a lie. The purported probe and indictment of Mrs Jonathan was said to have happened in 2006 when Malam Nuhu Ribadu was the chairman of EFCC. However, in a report published by an opposition newspaper, The Nation, on September 16, 2010, Ribadu categorically said: “I never handled a case against Patience Jonathan, never; it’s a lie. You know it is so sad because in our country this is how we go about maligning people. But today thank God I am not in his government. So, I can open up and talk. If I were to say it earlier people would have thought that I was looking for job from President Goodluck Jonathan. I am not looking for anything. But the truth must be told.” It is one of the oldest surviving lies against the president and his family..

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The Farce President Jonathan has been frittering away the foreign reserves and excess crude savings left behind by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Former Education Minister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, specifically accused President Jonathan of squandering $67 billion in reserves.

The Fact This is clearly one of the biggest storms in a teacup lapped up by the unsuspecting public. To start with, the foreign reserves as at May 2007 were $45bn out of which $22bn was excess crude savings. Ezekwesili’s figure of $67bn was an exaggeration for public effect. By December 2008, the government of President Yar’Adua had driven the reserves up to $53bn. In 2009, there was a fall in crude oil prices. At a stage, oil sold for as low as $40 per barrel. This affected the revenue of the federation badly. At this stage, withdrawals were made from the excess crude account to prevent a fiscal crisis which would have crippled the economy. All the withdrawals were announced publicly.

The Federal Government, the 36 states and 774 councils ALL shared from the excess crude account. Ezekwesili deliberately lied when she gave the impression that “Federal Government squandered” the money, knowing full well that the money was shared by all the tiers of government. It is public knowledge that the governors went to court seeking a declaration that the excess crude account is illegal. The president does not have any absolute power over it. In the heat of the global financial crisis which affected the Nigerian economy badly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had to draw down on the external reserves to stabilise the value of the Naira. If not, the Naira would probably be exchanging for over N200 to a dollar today.

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Also, to address the power crisis in the country, the National Economic Council, made up of all governors and chaired by the vice-president, agreed that the sum of $4.6bn be withdrawn from the excess crude account to finance the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP), Niger Delta Power Projects, and Mambilla Power Projects. This was widely reported in the media. This cannot be classified as squandering, except we have become so cynical that any expenditure at all – including paying salaries – amounts to squandering.

Meanwhile, the foreign reserves are being rebuilt again as the economy stabilises and oil prices go up.

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The Farce President Jonathan engineered the removal of Justice Isa Ayo Salami as President of the Court of Appeal for political reasons, to give his party, PDP, an advantage in election petitions.

The Fact Justice Salami, former President of the Court of Appeal, was suspended and recommended for retirement by the National Judicial Council (NJC) for allegedly lying against the then Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu. President Jonathan, as empowered the constitution, acted swiftly by appointing an acting President of the Court of Appeal pending the resolution of the cases in court, including the one instituted by Justice Salami himself. Curiously, the NJC, under the leadership of a new CJN Justice Dahiru Musdapher, asked that Justice Salami be reinstated, despite the cases in court.

As usual, President Jonathan came under attack from Salami’s supporters in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for not instantly reinstating him. Rule of law, in this instance, did not seem to matter to them. The ACN campaign of blackmail is understandable – Justice Salami played a major role in the judicial victories of the party in Ekiti and Osun States. He constituted one panel and sat on the other. However, as at the time the Salami saga broke, the Constitution had been amended by the National Assembly giving the Supreme Court the final jurisdiction in governorship elections.

It therefore did not make sense for President Jonathan to go after Salami as he was no longer in a position to influence judicial victories for the ACN.

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The Farce President Jonathan created Boko Haram in 2011 after winning the presidential election in order to destabilise the North and put his political opponents in bad light.

The Fact This is not a very popular lie. It is not even believed in most parts of Northern Nigeria. It is a universal fact that religious war has been a very big problem in the North for centuries, long before Jonathan was born. Boko Haram had been in existence before Jonathan became VicePresident in 2007, much less when he became President in 2011. It is true that the terrorist activities were stepped up before and after the 2011 general election, but we are also aware that some people threatened to make the country ungovernable if their candidate did not win the presidential election. The belief that President Jonathan would want to preside over an unstable and violent country is illogical, given the fact that he won elections in 23 states across the length and breadth of Nigeria. He scored 25% or more in 32 states.

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The Farce President Jonathan said he would not grant amnesty to Boko Haram militants because they are “ghosts”.

The Fact This is a case of listening to half the message. President Jonathan said consistently that he was ready to dialogue with the group if their leaders would come forward. This is exactly what he said at the town hall meeting in Damaturu, Yobe state, on March 7, 2013: “We cannot declare amnesty for Boko Haram because we cannot declare amnesty for ghosts. you cannot liken Boko Haram to what happened in the niger delta. Some of these names you hear, Asari Dokubo, Ateke Tom, when I was a deputy governor, I went to a meeting with President Olusegun Obasanjo and I saw Asari and Tom in the presidential Villa.

That was the first time i saw them; I had never seen them before, I did not even know them and I was the deputy governor of Bayelsa state, one of their hotbeds. It was in the Villa that i met them first during a meeting with the President.”

He added: “What I am saying is that in the Niger Delta case, if you call them, they will come and tell you their grievances, rightly or wrongly. They will be there to tell you, ‘this is what we want, this is why we are doing this.’ But in the case of the Boko Haram, you don’t see anybody who will say he is a Boko Haram member, so we cannot declare amnesty. For us to declare amnesty, we must be communicating with people. We cannot declare amnesty for people that are operating under a veil. We can’t even discuss amnesty issue, let them come and tell us their problems and let’s see how we can solve the problem.”

President Jonathan later set up a committee to explore the possibility of granting amnesty to any member of the sect who was ready to come forward and renounce violence. Anyone who comes forward can no longer be referred to as a ghost. Jonathan’s words were deliberately twisted, apparently.

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The Farce The beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy scam financed President Jonathan’s campaign in 2011

The Fact It was President Jonathan who decided that deregulation was overdue, partly to check the massive fraud in the subsidy system. If indeed he was the major beneficiary of the fraud (which was said to have been used to fund his presidential campaign), why would he take the lead in seeking to abolish the subsidy regime? In every rational mind, Jonathan should be working against the deregulation of the sector, preferring the payments of trillions of naira in subsidy so that he could continue to “benefit”. In any case, anybody can claim to be funding presidential campaign to boost their ego and peddle influence. It is a common problem. It does not mean it is true.

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The Farce $20 billion oil money is missing or unaccounted for. This allegation was made by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Fact As urban legends go, this is one of the most sensational but false allegations ever made in Nigeria’s history. It was also well promoted by the opposition to gain full political mileage, but this should not be surprising since they, clearly ,were the ones behind the cooked-up allegation in the first place. The aim was to tarnish the image of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan locally and internationally ahead of the 2015 elections. What a devious game plan!

However, the allegation was never going to be true from the beginning. Sanusi’s initial allegation was that $49.8 billion was missing. A few days after making the claim, Sanusi reduced the figure to $12 billion and apologised. Not long after that, he increased it again to $20 billion. This should, ordinarily, put a question mark on the entire allegation, but for those who were out to make political capital out of it, any figure would do. The word in town became “$20 billion is missing”. The senate investigated the allegation and came up with its findings: no money is missing. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) explained how every cent and every kobo was spent!

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The Farce It was sensationally reported that the president and the vice-president had budgeted N1 billion for food for 2012. This prompted some comical and cynical reactions from the public. This was so often repeated that nobody even bothered to check the facts.

The Fact Even though N1 billion (or N992 million, which was the actual figure) was budgeted for food, it was not for the president, vice-president and their families. The budget was for Presidency, which included all the agencies reporting to it. There are over 40 agencies under Presidency. Also, the budget covers members of the Brigade of Guard who are fed thrice a day. Out of nothing but mischief, it was reported that the budget was for the president and his wife. This became a hit on the social media and people freely commented on what was purely a fictive invention.

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The Farce It was alleged that NYSC members were killed in Bauchi during the 2011 presidential election because they rigged for the PDP. The spokesman of CPC, Rotimi Fashakin, revealed to premiumtimesng.com in December 2012 that “some so called (NYSC) members were murdered, but in actual fact some of these people are IT consultants” to PDP. He said his party traced one the victims through his facebook page and found out that “he graduated from UNN in 2006 where he studied computer science and is also a manager at a computer firm in Lagos”.

The Fact In the presidential election in Bauchi State, C.P.C. scored 1,315,209 votes while P.D.P. got 258,404 votes.

If the murdered youths were indeed working for PDP, they did a poor job! They surely didn’t deserve to be killed by the agents of violence and bloodshed!

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The Farce President Jonathan won the 2011 presidential election through rigging.

The Fact The question is: who then won the election? Jonathan polled 22,496,157 votes; Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) 12,214,529; Malam Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) 917,365; and Malam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) 2,088,791. Jonathan polled 59.64 per cent of the votes cast; Buhari (CPC) 32.38 per cent; Ribadu (ACN) 5.54; and Shekarau (ANPP) 2.43 per cent.

Jonathan won in 23 states, including 16 out of the 17 Southern states and seven Northern states — Kwara, Kogi, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Adamawa and Taraba – and FCT. He also scored 25 per cent or more in 32 states and FCT, surpassing the constitutional requirement of at least a quarter of the votes cast in at least 24 states. It was only in Bauchi, Borno, Kano and Yobe that Jonathan did not meet the 25 per cent requirement.

Buhari won in 12 states — all in the North. However, he scored less than 25 per cent in 22 states, including all Southern states and four Northern states – Kogi, Kwara, Benue and Plateau. Ribadu won in only one state, Osun, while that of the ANPP, Shekarau, did not win in any state. In fact, Shekarau did not meet the 25 per cent requirement in any state.

Back to the question: who then won the 2011 election?

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The Farce In 2011, President Jonathan promised to do only one term if given the PDP ticket.

The Fact This wild report has managed to make its way into the media and assumed the toga of a fact. Some politicians have gone to the extent of saying President Jonathan even signed an agreement. However, not a single jot of evidence has been produced, either audio, video or any written document. While it is true that President Jonathan canvassed a single term in 2011, he wanted a maximum tenure of six years for elected governors and the president so that they can concentrate on the urgent tasks at hand. This proposal was opposed and was never discussed by the lawmakers.

*Adapted from the writer’s book, JONATHAN AND CRITICS: THE FACTS, THE FICTIONS AND MATTERS ARISING

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FACTS ARE STUBBORN THI TAKE A LOOK...

The 2011 General Elections conducted under President Goodluck Jonathan were adjudged the freest and fairest in Nigeria since 1999.

“Nigeria had conducted its most successful and credible elections since its return to multiparty democracy in 1999. Despite obvious imperfections, these elections have given the country a solid foundation for strengthening its democratic institutions in the years ahead.”

– Johnny Carson, Unites States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, April 9th at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.

By 1999, Nigeria’s railway system had practically collapsed – with the major lines: Lagos–Kano and Port Harcourt – Maiduguri completely dead. Today, the trains are back on track and new rail lines are being constructed.

“I wish to remind you that the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan, is poised on repositioning the nation’s rail transport industry in the conviction that the national economy will ultimately witness sustainable growth if the Railway is strategically sustained as infrastructural pillar of the economy” – Alhaji Kawu Baraje, APC Chieftain and Former NRC Railway Chairman at the flag-off of the third passenger train service on the Lagos-Kano-Lagos route August 2013.

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As at 2011, Nigeria was a net importer of cement with local production at 12 million metric tonnes; today, we are producing 25.9 million metric tonnes and have become a net exporter of cement!

“There is a clear evidence of the positive impact of the sector based incentives. Incentives and concessions given to the cement industry have contributed to the phenomenal increase in national cement production from less than 2 million tons in 2002 to over 20 million tons in 2013. As a result, from being a net importer, Nigeria has become a net exporter of cement. This was achieved in less than a decade. Thanks to the enabling environment fostered by government policies.”

– Statement read by Chief Kola Jamodu, President Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. ThisDay January 28th 2014.

As at 2009, we were producing about 70,000 metric tonnes of wheat; today we are producing over 150,000 metric tonnes.

INGS! As at 2009, our airport terminals were an eyesore and a national disgrace, but today, virtually all of them have been remodelled and modernized.

The age-long chronic corruption in the procurement and distribution of fertilisers to our farmers has been completely cleared with the introduction of the electronic wallet system.

“If Nigeria keeps on this way, it will become Africa’s leader in agriculture…”This has a huge potential to transform Nigeria’s economy and diversify it away from oil and gas.”

– The Vice President of the US-Exim Bank, Wanda Felton at the Agric Business Summit. Vanguard April 16th 2012.

“CBN supports public officers that are doing something. There is no one that can go to Kano airport or Kaduna airport or Benin airport or Abuja airport and tell you that something is not happening.”

– Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on March 15th 2013 at the commissioning of the remodelled International terminal of Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport

As at 2009, we were producing under 5 million metric tonnes of rice but today we are producing well over 9 million tonnes, making Nigeria 80 to 85% self-sufficient in paddy rice production.

A comprehensive redraft of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has been completed by the Executive and is currently within the purview of the National Assembly. When passed into law, it shall be the first of its kind in Nigeria in terms of its coverage and sweeping reforms.

“Directors welcomed reforms underway in the energy sector, and looked forward to an early passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill.”

– The IMF in a Public Information Notice, PIN,

As at 2009, Nigerians were only minor players in the Oil and Gas industry; today, with the Nigerian Content Law, there has been an increase in the level of indigenous asset ownership and the utilization of Nigerian owned assets such as marine vessels and rigs in supporting the Oil and Gas industry operations. This success in the Nigerian Content Law is best exemplified with the listing of the Seplat Petroleum Development Company on the Nigeria and London Stock Exchanges, the first Nigerian indigenous company to do so.

“The PIB is necessary for the advancement of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry as it seeks to improve the general efficiency of the sector as well as boost local content participation in the industry.”

– Wale Tinubu, Managing Director, Oando Pls, ThisDay 10th August 2011

“One of the biggest achievements in this democratic experience is in the area of local content. Four years ago, President Goodluck Jonathan signed the bill into law and the story has changed positively” – Simon Kolawole, ThisDay 27th April 2014.

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F A C T S A R E S T U B B OR N T H I N G S !

TAKE A LOOK...

The Federal Government under President Jonathan has concluded a historic privatization of the nation’s power sector – a process that received worldwide acclaim from all major players for being fair, free, transparent and conforming in particular to global best practices.

Carlos Pascual, United States special envoy and coordinator for international energy affairs for example gave the commendation describing the exercise as unprecedented. Pascual said that there are few countries in the world where such a wholesale exercise was carried out to completion.

– Nigeria Investment Summit, New York, July 29, 2013.

ECOWAS

President Jonathan as ECOWAS Chair & Co-Mediator stood courageously and firmly with other ECOWAS Heads of State to resolve the crises in Niger, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Guinea Bissau. None of the Heads of State who have worked with President Jonathan will characterize him as weak, incompetent or unfocused when it comes to taking hard decisions.

“Vice President Biden thanked Vice President Sambo for Nigeria’s important role on the continent, and its exemplary leadership during the unrest in Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and elsewhere.”

– Excerpt taken from the Readout of Vice President’S Biden’s meeting with Vice President Sambo of Nigeria. www.whitehouse.gov April 11, 2012.

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Sanusi Lamido Sanusi made the sensational claim that the country lost USD$49.8 billion in 2011, a figure which exceeded our annual national budget for that year; he changed the figure to USD12 billion, and then to USD20 billion! It is important to note that, the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources directed that an audit be carried out in NNPC long before any of these claims were made.

Following due process via BPP, PWC were invited to carry out an internal audit in September 2013.

Subsequently, President Jonathan has ordered a forensic audit of the accounts to ascertain the veracity or otherwise of these claims.

Twenty five years of false start and lost opportunities, the Super Eagles won the African Cup of Nations for the third time in 2013 under President Jonathan. Our Under-17 Team also won gold in the FIFA U-17 World Cup and in the World Athletics Championship, we won two medals. We shall continue to win. We are now set for the World Cup in Brazil

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GDP

President Jonathan had the courage to convoke a National Conference aimed at repositioning Nigeria for robust economic growth and political stability. it was a success and the outcome refreshingly different, awaiting implementation.

As at 2011, virtually all Federal Government roads across the country were in a state of disrepair. The Federal Government embarked on a massive reconstruction in which a majority of these roads are now fully reconstructed and are in use by majority of road users across Nigeria such as the Benin-Ore Road and the Abuja Airport Road Extension.

The government of President Jonathan began the implementation of the greatest environmental intervention management programme – the Great Green Wall project. The project, which seeks to boldly address desertification and halt the spread of the degradation associated with it, was first discussed by regional leaders in 2004 and launched in Abuja in 2006. Unfortunately, the project suffered neglect until President Jonathan’s government commenced its implementation. As at 2014, a total sum of 16billion naira has been spent towards the project’s realisation.

Economically, GDP growth under President Jonathan has averaged 6.7%, which is significantly higher than most countries across the globe; the recent rebasing of the Nigerian economy puts our GDP at USD510 billion – the largest in Africa; and Foreign Direct Investment has been an average of USD7 Billion annually.

Our country suffered a devastating flood in 2012 – the worst recorded in the nation’s history however through immediate intervention and good management there was no resulting famine.

Nigeria used to be defined by long and constant queues for petroleum products with scarcity seemingly the order of the day; in the last few years, this has become a rarity.

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“Africa must turn its begging bowls into baskets of prosperity and opportunity”–GEJ “Nigeria is a nation of resilient people.

We will never yield to the forces of darkness. Nigeria will never, ever, disintegrate”–GEJ “In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never despaired; no car to take me to school but I never despaired. There were days I had only one meal but I never despaired. I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day but I never despaired. Didn’t have power, didn’t have generators, studied with lanterns but I never despaired. In spite of these, I finished secondary school, attended the University of Port Harcourt, and now hold a doctorate degree” –GEJ

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in his own words...

“We are gradually reducing the footprints of government in business activities through privatisation, liberalisation and deregulation based on our recognition that the private sector should be the engine of growth in our economy” –GEJ “Nigerians are peace-loving people; these sad events perpetrated by those who do not wish our nation well have not changed the essential character of our people” –GEJ

“No matter what it takes, we will win this war against terror” –GEJ

“Our first responsibility as citizens is to use the ballot”–GEJ “Those who dismissed the National Conference as a “diversion” have been proved wrong as what you achieved has contrary to their forecast diverted our country only from the wrong road to the right direction.” –GEJ 98

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in his own words...

“As we strive to advance our democratic development, there will be times when our will shall be tested, our patience provoked and our belief questioned” –GEJ “We must develop a democratic culture in which the will of the people will be treated as sacred and be immune to subversion by anti-democratic elements” –GEJ

“The dark patches in the Niger Delta will give way to light” –GEJ

“Africa must declare an end to the era of self-inflicted wars and conflicts” –GEJ “For those who take pleasure in seeing innocent human beings in pains, to see limbs being shattered and blood flowing in all direction after terror attacks, we say, you shall have no hiding place. Nigerians will expose you.” –GEJ

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in his own words...

“I was not born rich, and in my youth, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, but not once did I ever give up” –GEJ “I want to assure Nigerians that crude oil is not our ‘Black Gold’.

The real ‘Black Gold’ of Nigeria are her people and they can grow in value from gold to diamond via education”–GEJ

“Being a Nigerian is a blessing [and] a great responsibility”–GEJ

“Our unity is firm, our purpose strong, our determination unshakable” –GEJ

“Separation of power is not separation of government”–GEJ “In our efforts to rescue our daughters, we have had to battle with the dilemma of demonstrating military might and endangering their lives or undermining the sovereignty of Nigeria by succumbing to the blackmail of the terrorists on their own terms. Let me restate that we will not give in or give up to terrorists.” –GEJ 102

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in his own words...

“We are not sworn enemies... We are neighbours who sometimes offend each other but can always sit down to talk over our differences”–GEJ “Economic diplomacy does not need to be a zero-sum game where the gain of partner automatically translates to the loss of the other” –GEJ

“If God did not will it we will not be Nigerians”

–GEJ

“I prefer to see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the silver lining”–GEJ “We are a nation of the future, not of the past, and while we may have travelled for a century, we are not yet at our destination of greatness.” –GEJ 104

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in his own words...

“Democracy calls for sacrifice and tolerance, an open ear and a strong voice”–GEJ

“Cynicism and scepticism will not help our journey to greatness. Let us all believe in a new Nigeria”–GEJ “Peace and security are the barest, irreducible conditions for social and economic development”–GEJ

“The goal of achieving positive macroeconomic stability is no end in itself” –GEJ

“The time of lamentation is over.

This is the era of transformation.

This is the time for action”–GEJ 106

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The Man from Otuoke “I was not born rich, and in my youth, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, but not once did I ever give up” –GEJ 108

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Early Years FDr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), and President, Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was born to a humble Niger Delta family of canoe makers on November 20, 1957, in the sleepy town of Otuoke, in Ogbia local government area in present day Bayelsa state, South-South Nigeria.

President Jonathan, as the third child of his parents, Lawrence Ebele Jonathan and Eunice Aye Jonathan, was born like any other child. However, some incidents and events around his life later showed he was no ordinary son.

By deciding to name their son Goodluck, his parents were hopeful that although life was hard for them before his birth, their young boy would bring them good luck and change their fortune for the better.

Sarah, Goodluck’s paternal grandmother, also saw something remarkable and special about the boy and nicknamed him ‘Azikiwe’ after Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, one of Nigeria’s founding fathers who, at the time of Goodluck’s birth, was one of the country’s patriarchs leading the campaign for independence from the British. Azikiwe, who later became Nigeria’s first President, was a celebrated figure as far as Sarah was concerned. She predicted that her grandson would one day attain the status of a great man like Azikiwe.

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whatman the they from said... otuoke...

“We have a duty to be loyal to our country” –GEJ

Education

After his secondary education, he worked for two years at the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) where he was posted to several Growing up in the warmth of a close-knit family, President Jonathan beats like Guard Duty, Station Writer, the Radio Room, Rummaging had humble yet adventurous beginnings. In spite of the enchanting and Baggage, and Land and Water Patrols at the Nigerian Ports beauty of the Niger Delta and the pristine innocence of those times, Authority (NPA) in Port Harcourt and eventually becoming Preventive the young Jonathan, rather than take after the family trade, chose Officer there before putting in his resignation. Jonathan later to go to school. Indeed, when he was of school age, he personally proceeded to the University of Port Harcourt which the Federal demanded to be enrolled in school!

Government had granted full university status on October 1, 1977.

He attended St. Stephen’s Lower Primary School (now State When the university commenced its first academic session on School), Otuoke, and St. Michaels Primary School, Oloibiri, finishing October 24 that year, he made history as one of the pioneer students in 1969. There was however a reason why Jonathan had to attend admitted into the university, which nestled on the shores of the two schools for his elementary education. As was common with most Choba River, to study Zoology in the School of Biological Sciences. other primary schools at the time, St. Stephen’s only had classes Because he was the best Biology student in his secondary school up to Class Three. In essence, he couldn’t complete his elementary set for almost three consecutive years, his choice of Zoology as a education there. He thus moved to Oloibiri, a village several course of study from among Botany and Microbiology, the two kilometres from Otuoke, where he attended St. Michael’s which was other courses being offered by the department, didn’t come as a established by the Anglican Church. surprise to many of knew him then. Moreover, as a child, he had His primary school years at St. Michael’s were tough. It was while been fascinated with nature, and growing up by the shores of the there that President Jonathan, as a teenager, walked long distances intertwining rivers and waterways of the Niger Delta, aquatic life was to school bare-footed. He made a reference to that difficult phase second nature. of his life about four decades later when he declared his interest In 1981, Jonathan graduated with Second Class Upper honours. He to contest for Nigeria’s Presidency at the Eagle Square, Abuja in was one of the few who made Second Class Upper in his set. None September 2010, of having no shoes to walk to school, a touching of the graduating students made First Class. He was 24 years old. For story that inspired hope in many citizens who watched the event live his National Youth Service in 1981, he was posted to Iresi Secondary on TV within and outside the country!

Commercial Grammar School in present-day Osun state. At the time, For his secondary education, Jonathan proceeded to Mater Dei Iresi was under Oyo state.

High School, Imiringi, a small but centrally-located town in Ogbia where he passed his West African School Certificate with flying colours in 1975. At the school, he earned a reputation of being a disciplined, hardworking and brilliant student. He made distinction in such subjects as Chemistry, Economics, Geography, Biology and When he returned to the warm embrace of his family and friends in Bible Knowledge with credit passes in Physics, English Literature 1982 after his national service, Jonathan applied to the Rivers State and English. The following year, he enrolled for the GCE O’Level Civil Service Commission for employment as a teacher. He impressed Examination and also passed brilliantly making As in Mathematics, the interview panel and was offered a job at the state’s Ministry of Chemistry, and Economics among others.

Education. He was deployed to the Secondary Schools Department as

His Career

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“I prefer to see the silver lining in the dark cloud rather than the dark cloud in the a Science Inspector of Education. The department was responsiblesilver lining” –GEJ for schools inspection, standards monitoring, and registration of candidates for the West African School Certificate Examinations among others. Jonathan was dutiful at the job.

However, rather than just being an inspector, he was more interested in teaching, and working at a higher level too! He spent just few months at the job and resigned to join the Rivers State College of Education in 1983 as an Assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Science’s Department of Biological Science.

As a lecturer at the Rivers State College of Education, President Jonathan was strict, hardworking, disciplined, conscientious and dutiful. It was in the institution that he would first be popularly known by GEJ, his initials. It was also at the college that Jonathan also met his future wife and First Lady, Patience Ebifaka Oba, a robust light-skinned young woman from Okrika.

All through the period that he lectured at the college, he had no car. He used the same public transport as his students to commute from Rumuolumeni, where the college is located, to the popular Wimpey Junction along Ikwerre Road from where he walked the ten minutes distance to the Unity and Friendship Estate along Mile 4, Rumukwata, Port Harcourt where the institution had rented a three bedroom flat.

That Jonathan wasn’t one of the lecturers who cut corners or devoted his efforts to dubious schemes of making money by insisting students pay huge sums before they pass, or concerned parents part with large sums before their wards graduate, was evident to many!

He left the job in 1993 after lecturing for 10 years. In the same year, he was appointed Assistant Director, Ecology, in the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in charge of Environmental Protection. In 1995, at 38 years old, President Jonathan got his Ph.D in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. This was after he had studied for his Master’s degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries Biology in the same university. And interestingly too, he bought his first car, a 1986 Datsun Bluebird that same year!

Going into Politics Jonathan’s passion and desire to better the lot of his people became ignited while he was working in a developmental environment which the defunct OMPADEC provided. In 1998, he eventually resigned his job in the commission and went into politics.

Through his honesty, humility, simplicity, charisma, quiet strength and determination, Jonathan was selected as an ideal running mate

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to Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Bayelsa state. They won the election and got sworn in on May 29, 1999, when Nigeria returned to democratic governance after over 15 years of military dictatorship, making history as the first civilian administration of the state since its creation in 1996.

An outstanding quality which Jonathan displayed to much acclaim while he served as Bayelsa State’s Deputy Governor was total loyalty to his boss, unlike in some other states where the governors had running battles with their deputies. The Alamieyeseigha/Jonathan ticket later won a second term in 2003.

But Jonathan served as Deputy Governor only until December 11, 2005 as he replaced his former boss as the substantive Governor of Bayelsa state on December 12, 2005 following Alamieyeseigha’s arrest by the London Metropolitan Police in September that year far away in the United Kingdom over money laundering charges and his subsequent impeachment by the Bayelsa State House of Assembly in December 2005.

That Jonathan didn’t carry out any overt or covert action or exhibit undue ambition to exploit the situation for his personal political benefits in the turbulence of the political crisis that engulfed the state won him commendation from many admirers in Bayelsa state and others across the country.

Jonathan as Bayelsa state Governor As Bayelsa state Governor, Jonathan offered renewed hope to Bayelsans during the one and a half year remainder of the administration’s tenure. Within six months of assuming office as governor, he successfully repositioned the state by spreading tangible projects throughout the three senatorial districts of Bayelsa.

Moreover, he also introduced a transport scheme to open up movement within the state as well as its neighbours. In the scheme, 100 taxis, 25 boats and 72 mini buses were purchased for masstransit programme under the Bayelsa State Government Assisted Mass Transport (BSGAMT) and then given to transporters on a hire purchase basis.

In the health sector, his government introduced mobile clinics and ambulances to boost healthcare delivery. Jonathan as well stepped

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up care for Bayelsa citizens who tested HIV positive while placing all of those openly living with the virus in the state on monthly allowances. He also encouraged the training of medical doctors at the medical school of the state-owned Niger Delta University, Amassoma to provide the required manpower at the health centres in the state.

However, a memorable incident worthy of note and one with future implications happened during Jonathan’s tenure as Governor. He had invited former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda, along with then Senate President, Ken Nnamani, to participate in the Yenagoa ‘Three-Arms Road Walk’ against HIV/AIDS which the state government was organising. He was Chief Host. By the time Kaunda was about returning to his country, the former President looked at Jonathan and told him a profound statement: ‘‘Young man, you will rule this country very soon.’’

Jonathan and a close aide who was with him were surprised by Kaunda’s statement. He was the youngest governor in the country then and was still struggling to bring reconciliation to his people and rebuild his state. He was also yet to win the nomination of his party for his full term in office. Jonathan only smiled. But Kaunda’s words would turn prophetic barely a year later!

From Vice President to Acting President and President!

As he was busy preparing for election to his first full term as substantive governor, fate once again beckoned on Jonathan when the PDP, nominated him as running mate to the Presidential candidate, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua. The Yar’Adua/Jonathan ticket, with the political strength of the party, would eventually go ahead to win the 2007 elections although amidst widespread irregularities, violence and allegations of rigging. On May 29, 2007, Jonathan was inaugurated as Nigeria’s Vice President.

In his inaugural address, Yar’Adua admitted that the electoral process that brought him to power wasn’t a perfect one. He set up a committee on electoral reform and introduced a seven-point agenda which the administration would use to leapfrog Nigeria into the elite club of the world’s 20 biggest economies by 2020. The administration was also able to successfully disarm militants in the Niger Delta that had for long tasked the might of a combined force of military and police personnel through the amnesty programme of the government.

To also mark its commitment to solving the Niger Delta conundrum in order to develop the region, the administration created the Niger Delta ministry to do for the area what the Federal Capital Territory Administration had done in developing Abuja!

However, on Friday, November 20, 2009, Yar’Adua was flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment of what his handlers called Acute Pericarditis, an inflammatory condition of the coverings of the heart. Yar’Adua’s health later deteriorated for several months without his VP being empowered to act in his capacity, a situation that almost took the country to the precipice.

On Tuesday, February 9, 2010, Jonathan assumed office as Nigeria’s Acting President by virtue of a National Assembly resolution which the lawmakers called Doctrine of Necessity, empowering him as Acting President, following President Yar’Adua’s long absence for medical attention in Saudi Arabia.

However, while the controversy that surrounded the health of President Yar’Adua lasted, Jonathan kept a dignified silence. He refrained from being drawn into the controversy.

But had he demanded for it, Jonathan would have been asking for a legitimate affirmation of Section 145 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution. That he maintained his composure was, in itself, a virtue. And neither did Jonathan betray unbridled ambition to take over the President’s seat.

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“Separation of power is not separation of government” –GEJ

Due to mounting pressure from many fronts, members of the civil society, religious leaders, professional bodies and labour unions like the Nigeria Bar Association and the Nigeria Labour Congress including the media, the National Assembly, on February 9, 2010, exactly 78 days after Yar’Adua left the country, later proclaimed Jonathan as Acting President.

On May 6, 2010, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was became President, Commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria following the passing away of President Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010.

While that crises in Nigeria’s history lasted, Jonathan’s patience and calm disposition, won him admiration, not only in Nigeria but across the world as he took office.

From a crisis which had dangerously taken the country to the precipice of a major constitutional logjam emerged a leader for the country whose good fortune would effectively become talk points in many homes, gatherings and communities within and outside Nigeria, and with it, creating the stuff legends are made of: That where others had struggled to get to high positions, Jonathan had gotten all his own on a platter of gold because of the good luck that had followed him from birth!

Reforming INEC and Nigeria’s Electoral Process Jonathan’s swearing in as President opened his eyes to the vast potentials of the office as a potent instrument for the transformation of the country. He discovered that by sheer willpower, the occupier of that high office could end the long queues and price fluctuations in the country’s petrol stations. He also discovered that by insisting that the right things be done, there could begin a turnaround in the power sector by involving the private sector in power generation and distribution.

In his bid to live up to the expectations of Nigerians for a credible electoral umpire to be appointed in place of Maurice Iwu, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who was widely perceived to be corrupt and had brazenly aided large-scale rigging during the 2007 elections, Jonathan announced Attahiru Mahmoud Jega, a professor of political science, as the new INEC chairman. The appointment of Jega, a former President

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“Jonathan held the nation spell-bound with his well-written declaration speech as well as its brilliant delivery. His rigorous campaign train wove its message around national transformation”

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of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who many Nigerians perceive as a man of integrity, was widely cheered and well-received.

On the Campaign Trail On September 18, 2010, Jonathan declared his interest to contest as President in the 2011 elections at a colourful and well-attended declaration ceremony in Abuja. The declaration marked the

beginning of a laborious campaign that saw him traverse the length and breadth of the country criss-crossing the six geopolitical zones and visiting more states than any of his opponents. Jonathan held the nation spell-bound with his well-written declaration speech as well as its brilliant delivery. His rigorous campaign train wove its message around national transformation. Before Jonathan’s emergence on the national scene, no Presidential candidate had yet captivated Nigeria like he successfully did.

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Making History And interestingly too, Jonathan’s decision to open a Facebook account earlier in June 2010 was a creative strategy that gave a fillip to his campaign. By making history as the first Nigerian President on Facebook, one of the social media platforms, Jonathan positioned himself as the candidate for the young and upwardly mobile.

On April 16, 2011, voters went to the polls and elected Jonathan as Nigeria’s 14th President. He was a man who, 10 years earlier, was hardly-well known to most of his countrymen. In the elections proper, Jonathan defeated top contenders like Muhammend Buhari of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) and Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

That INEC, under Jega’s leadership, successfully conducted the 2011 elections which were generally adjudged free and fair and far better than the 2007 elections, with no accusation of the incumbent government’s interference in its operations, is a testament to the sincerity and commitment of the Jonathan administration to ensure credible polls in Nigeria.

On May 29, 2011, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan took the oath of office as President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

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His Impact and Achievements In pursuit of His Transformation Agenda for the country, President Jonathan, on getting to power, launched the Power Sector Roadmap, indeed, one of his administration’s first activities, which was aimed at improving the electricity situation of the country. With the privatisation of the power sector and the wholesale rehabilitation of existing generation, transmission and distribution facilities all over the country, the power situation can only get better. But had previous administrations taken the practical steps Mr. President has taken till date, the power situation in the country would certainly not have deteriorated to the level it is today.

Although he assumed office at a period when the financial sector was in a mess, with the Capital Market in dire straits as a result of market meltdown while the banking sector was gasping for breath under heavy yoke of toxic assets in the books, President Jonathan pursued the reform of the markets with single-minded determination and gave the regulatory authorities the freedom and support they required to sanitize the system. Today, the Capital Market is steadfast on the path to total recovery while the banks are also back to profitability with the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Assets Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON). The risks of future

bank failures are very low while Nigeria’s financial markets are back as the delight of international investors.

It is not a common occurrence for ruling parties to lose elections especially in Africa.

Yet, under Jonathan, the ruling PDP lost elections in states like Edo, Nasarawa, Imo, Ogun, Oyo and Zamfara among others. The courts also ruled in favour of opposition parties in Osun and Ekiti states where the PDP believed it had good cases. In the past, such judicial pronouncements would have been ignored. Of course, while some elements in his own party were not happy or impressed by his acts, his conviction was that the will of all Nigerians most never be subverted if democracy would be deepened in the country. But Jonathan is hardly given his due credit as one of the most Godfearing Presidents Nigeria has ever had.

His government, realising that cutting down on recurrent expenditure in the national budget cannot be done overnight, launched a gradual phased reduction. A consistent implementation of the medium and long-term targets will be clear for all to see in the next few years with more resources for capital expenditure.

Again, the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) which his government put into place, in line with best practices adopted by forwardthinking countries like Norway and Qatar, can also not be waved aside. The $1 billion

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“Our unity is firm, our purpose strong, our determination unshakable” –GEJ seed capital invested in the Fund holds a lot of prospects for future generations of Nigeria.

In 2011, Jonathan launched the Gas Revolution to develop companies that will work on Oil and Gas derivatives. This will make gas available for both domestic and industrial use, as well as for power generation across the country.

Moreover, under his government, there has been a more liberalised environment for freedom of association and as well freedom of expression in the country. His government’s record in this regards, beats that of previous administrations by several miles and on several fronts. He also signed the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill into Law. In Nigeria today, there is no chance that anyone would be arrested or murdered for expressing his opinions. And even though President Jonathan is hardly praised or commended for this, his gentlemanly approach and uncommon tolerance for dissenting views, even abuses against his person and family as a leader with enormous executive powers, is second to none. The likelihood of security agencies being sent after people because they expressed their opinions, no matter how vitriolic, is virtually non-existent. Of course, there are former Presidents of the country whom Nigerians, till date, perceive as having silenced their opponents by killing or jailing them when they were in power.

In Education, Jonathan launched and promoted the Bring Back the Book Initiative to revive and encourage the reading culture among school children and the Nigerian youths. To tackle the age-long worrisome issue of Almajiris in the North, about 200 schools have been built with 200 more to go.

His government has also been strengthening efforts to enhance access to education for boys in the South East. Jonathan’s government as well established nine new federal universities to increase access to tertiary education in the country while also improving infrastructure of already existing ones.

In Agriculture, an indisputable fact is that Jonathan’s government has invested more in agriculture than any other previous leader of the country as Nigeria seeks to exploit the vast potentials of that critical sector which is its largest employer of labour. The country, under Jonathan’s administration, is nearer to achieving self sufficiency in rice production than any other time in its history.

Through the Cassava Transformation Policy being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, 40 % substitution of cassava flour for wheat flour is already a reality. Additionally, Nigeria, the largest cassava producer globally, is on its way to becoming the largest

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processor of cassava in the world as processing plants that were on the verge of collapse are already back in business.

In the area of Sports, Dr. Jonathan initiated the first-ever Presidential Retreat on sports in Nigeria held in Abuja on October 22, 2012. It brought together key stakeholders to chart the way forward for the country’s sports. The summit became imperative following the disappointing performance of Team Nigeria at the 2012 London Olympics.

At the summit, Mr. President emphasised the point that Nigeria needs to develop and implement immediate solutions for achieving national sporting excellence. The success of the Nigerian Senior football team, the Super Eagles, at the 2013 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in South Africa, is an inspiring evidence that the country is on course to reclaim its lost glory in international football.

Jonathan’s administration also continues to encourage Nigerian athletes and sports men and women in various ways to develop their talents so they can achieve their dreams and bring honour to their Fatherland.

The extensive rehabilitation of the country’s rail network, the construction of roads and rehabilitation of major expressways across the country, aside the remodelling of the country’s airports, and other achievements of his administration, are evidence of Jonathan’s passion to make Nigeria a better place to live in for all Nigerians.

More than any other President in Nigeria’s history, President Jonathan President Jonathan also entrenched the 35% Affirmation Action as regards women in governance. His appointment of 13 female ministers out of a total of 42 and four female special advisers out of a total of 18 is already a record that would always be talked about in our country. Again, far above any other previous administration in the country too, the Jonathan Presidency stands tall in the patriotic efforts to document the activities of the Presidency for Nigerians and generations unborn, especially through publications and books, to read and learn from.

And despite the security challenge the country has had to cope with during his administration especially Boko Haram terrorism and the bitter politics of opposition politicians who sometimes unnecessarily heat up the polity aside the gargantuan challenge of leading a large party as the PDP with various interests and ambitions, President Jonathan has maintained his focus, ever resolute and committed to ensuring that Nigeria’s economy and its infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country, becomes far better than he met it.

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The Man on a Mission As President Jonathan, a recipient of many local and international awards, clocks 56 years on November 20, 2013, he isn’t a fulfilled man yet. He is a man pursuing a mission. His vision of a country where all Nigerians can attain their life goals and live their dreams remains a work in progress even as he is devoted to ensuring that the transformation agenda of his administration bear visible fruits for all Nigerian citizens to see.

However, despite the attacks and criticisms his administration has consistently have to contend with from Nigerians who are eager to see the country change

for the better, and particularly from the opposition which hardly sees any good in his administration, President Jonathan remains determined to transform Nigeria no matter what doubters say. Of course, he sure needs the continuous support of all patriotic and well-meaning Nigerians.

And in spite of his assertion not too long ago that he is the most criticised President in the world, President Jonathan may well go down as the most praised Commander-in-Chief in Nigeria’s history when the long-term results of his transformation agenda in critical

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“The Independent National Electoral Commission (inec) said jonathan won. He actually won. Like i said, a democrat must be ready to accept the result of any election. Any aggrieved contestant should have gone to court to challenge the outcome of the poll instead of instigating violence. Do-or-die politics and financial inducement of the electorate are inimical to our polity.

These are not good for our country and people should desist from such acts.”

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) now All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Governor of Lagos State, admitting that President Goodluck Jonathan won the April 16, 2011 Presidential elections fair and square while speaking with journalists at Alausa, Lagos on Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Tinubu attributed the president’s victory to “hard work”.

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“This President does not interfere with the work of the Judiciary”

“I believe Jonathan will do his best and once he does his best and our party does its best, the best will be enough.”

El-Rufai, Former Minister of the FCT and APC Chieftain, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai while speaking with journalists at the State House on Tuesday, May 11,2010 when he visited President Jonathan as part of a delegation from Kaduna state which came to pay a solidarity visit.

“I believe President Goodluck Jonathan is capable of taking the nation to the next level. I am confident that President Goodluck Jonathan will continue to lead us in the right direction. I urge you all as a people to give the same support we gave to the late President Yar’Adua to our new President. It is still the same government of our great party, the People’s Democratic Party.”

Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, speaking on the Jonathan administration with a United Statesbased news agency, Empowered Newswire, after attending a United Nations Session on the Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in New York , in September 2010.

Bukola Saraki,

Former Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, speaking at the Government House, Ilorin when members of the National Assembly from Kwara state, the state executive of the PDP and members of the state’s House of Assembly paid him a condolence visit over the death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua.

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“I have never been pro- Abacha and had always seen Major Al-Mustapha as an adversary, especially during the June 12 years; I was driven into exile at that time, so I am not here to defend the government of Abacha or the conduct of Al-Mustapha while he served the administration. “But over time, especially since the return to democratic rule, I feel we should be driven by the rule of law in every facets of our life in this country. “In this case, it was very clear to me that an injustice is being done, so whether we were friends or foes before is neither here nor there, the issue was that an innocent man was locked up for 14 years for something he never did, and was even wrongly convicted by a court of law, thankfully the Court of Appeal has risen up to say it was an unjust ruling, and he is a free man again.

“I also commend the government under President Goodluck Jonathan for refusing to interfere in the process. We have seen this sort of thing before, if a government wants something bad enough, they know what to do, but this time around, it appears they didn’t get involved and Nigerians should clap for this administration for doing the right thing.”

Femi Fani-Kayode, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, former Minister of Aviation speaking at a news conference in Abuja shortly after the Court of Appeal in Lagos discharged and acquitted Major Al-Mustapha on July 12, 2013 and commending the federal government for not interfering in the court process while it lasted unlike successive regimes in the past.

Al-Mustapha had earlier been convicted by Lagos High Court for the killing of Mrs. Abiola, wife of late Moshood Abiola, the winner of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential elections.

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“If Nigeria does not talk before the next general elections, the country may cease to exist. The amalgamation of Nigeria is not a mistake and the things that unite the country are more than those dividing it. That is why we must all reason together when we have the chance to talk. Those that have being campaigning for the national conference in the past are now campaigning against it because tables have turned and they have benefitted from the public treasury. If we do not talk before the 2015 elections, we can just kiss Nigeria goodbye.”

“President Goodluck Jonathan is free to contest in the 2011 elections despite the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Zoning arrangement is Presidency by allocation. I have expressed my view that any Nigerian is entitled to contest.” nasir el-rufai

Former Minister of the FCT and APC Chieftain, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai while speaking with journalists at the State House on Tuesday, May 11,2010 when he visited Preisdent Jonathan as part of a delegation from Kaduna state which came to pay a solidarity visit.

tunde bakare Pastor Tunde Bakare, Convener of the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), endorsing the planned national conference announced by Mr. President during the October 1, 2013 Independence Anniversary Broadcast to the nation, while speaking at the launch and maiden lecture of the Centre for Change on Tuesday, October 15, 2013, in Lagos.

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“The last general election in Nigeria was not perfect, but overall it was an improvement over past travesties that were passed off as elections in Nigeria. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Attahiru Muhammadu Jega, and his team should be allowed to build upon the gains of that exercise for the good of the nation.�

Chinua Achebe,

page 247, There was a Country

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“I want to appreciate Mr. President with his resolve and public pronouncement that he would provide adequate security for the people and the INEC staff before, during and after the election. I am glad that Mr President kept to his words of assurance that there would be no thuggery, hooliganism and violence during the Edo Governorship Election. He is indeed a statesman, a man of honour because there was adequate and effective presence of security agents on ground. I am impressed because the army actually played a neutral role in the election”

Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (APC governor) on his re-election as Edo State governor after defeating the candidate from the president’s party

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INTERNATIONAL LEADERS

“President Jonathan has committed to building on the democratic process that we’ve seen in Nigeria in the past. The last election that brought President Jonathan to power was a hallmark on the continent and in Nigeria in terms of free and fair elections. And I know that he is committed to making sure that the elections in 2015 move in that same fashion.”

President Barack Obama, President Barack Obama of the United States of America, speaking during a bilateral meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York in September 2013.

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“My mission is to come and listen and appreciate and understand exactly what economic programmes will be implemented in Nigeria, and the initiative and the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan. I was extremely impressed with the energy and pace at which he wants to transform the economy, create jobs, and focus on agriculture.”

Christine Lagarde IMF Chief, Christine Lagarde, speaking with journalists after she met with President Goodluck Jonathan, on Monday, December 19, 2011 while on her first visit to Africa as head of the fund. Lagarde held talks with President Goodluck Jonathan after meeting Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and other Nigerian economic officials earlier in the day.

“The democracy in Nigeria is one that has been operating for a long time and like every democracy, it keeps moving forward and improving itself. We see in President Jonathan a strong commitment and strong degree of activities in being able to improve this democracy and ensure that the next election is fair, transparent and credible.”

Maria Otero,

US Under-secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, speaking when she visited President Goodluck Jonathan in company of former US Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Sanders.

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flashback Comments & Observations on the 2011 Elections

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Preliminary Statement Of The African Union Observer Mission On The 2011 Presidential Election in Nigeria 16 April 2011 A. Introduction In response to the invitation of the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) and in accordance with the Guidelines for African Union Election Observation and Monitoring Missions, H. E. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, dispatched an Observer Mission to the 2011 National Assembly (House of Representatives and Senate) and Presidential Elections in Nigeria. The AU Observer Mission issued a preliminary statement on the National Assembly (NASS) Elections of 9 April, 2011 on Tuesday 12 April, 2011.

During the Presidential Elections, the AU Mission is led by H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, former President of the Republic of Ghana.

Members of the Mission are drawn from Elections Management Bodies (EMBs), National Parliaments, the Pan African Parliament, Ambassadors, eminent persons and members of civil societies from various African countries. The Mission Observers are from Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe also sponsored delegates to the Mission.

The Mission is assisted by a team of technical staff from the AU Commission Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; the Pan-African Parliament in Midrand, South Africa; and the Johannesburg-based Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa (EISA).

B. Deployment for the 16 April, 2011 Presidential Elections On Thursday 14 April, 2011 the AU Mission redeployed 14 observer teams to the Federal Capital Territory and the following States: Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo and Rivers.

Upon arrival, the teams visited INEC State offices to establish the level of preparedness of the Commission for the Presidential Elections and to familiarise themselves with polling units where they would observe on polling day.

C. Observations

African Union

in public places, ranging from schools to community halls. In some other cases, polling units were established by the road side. ii. Polling units were generally established in the open, with officials, voters, party agents and observers exposed to harsh weather conditions.. iii. In general, polling units were located within a reasonable reach from voters. However, in some rural areas, a number of polling units were far from voters and rendered their accessibility relatively difficult. iv. The distribution of materials was much better than during the National Assembly Election of 9 April, 2011. Polling materials were distributed to the wards on the eve of the election day.

II. Opening Of The Polls vii. In most polling units, by 7:30am when the AU teams arrived to observe the opening of the polling process, preparations were already under way and potential voters had started queuing. viii. Most polling units opened on time, after all procedures required by relevant regulations and common practices had been followed.

However, some polling units did experience delays in opening. For example in Kwara State, at the University of Ilorin II. ix. In comparison with the NASS Elections, polling staff seemed to have a firmer grip on the voting procedures devised by INEC, and seemed to apply them with consistency.

III. Accreditation Of Voters

After analysing the observations made by its different teams, the AU Mission makes the following findings:

x. In line with the legal framework, accreditation of voters took place within the hours of 8:00am and 12:00pm in most of the polling units. However, it was extended beyond 12:00pm in a number of polling units where the process did not commence on time.

I. Location of Polling Units And Distribution of Election Materials

xi. The challenge of missing names from voters register persisted in a few of the polling units visited. But the cases were far fewer.

i. The polling units visited by the AU teams were commonly situated

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guidelines, accreditation and voting were simultaneously carried out in a number of polling stations. This happened in Sabon Tasha Ward, at Mando Primary School and Abuja Road-New Extension, where voters were allowed to vote immediately after their accreditation.

IV. Balloting xiii. In most polling units, voting commenced immediately after accreditation, although there were inconsistencies in the commencement of the voting process. In some stations, presiding officers complied with the stipulated procedure of counting accredited voters before commencement of the polls while, in other stations, this procedure was not complied with. xiv. Voting generally took place in a free and orderly manner. A remarkable feature of the polling process was how the people actively involved themselves in ensuring that the polls were a success. The Mission did not observe any major hindrance or disturbance that could have negatively affected the polling. xv. Contrary to the directives of INEC that each polling unit should have a maximum of 300 voters, but many of the polling units visited were over-crowded and posed a problem in terms of crowd control.

But despite long queues and challenging weather conditions, voters demonstrated eagerness and determination at the polling units visited. xvi. Most of the polling staff showed high professional conduct and commitment to their duties. They followed the prescribed procedures for voting and remained steadfast throughout the duration of the polling. xvii. There was an impressive presence of party agents and domestic observers in most polling units visited. In general, polling booths were arranged in such a way that the secrecy of the ballot was protected. In some instances, however, either ballot booths were not provided or they were improperly placed and this impinged on the secrecy of the poll. xviii. Challenges noted during polling include: Missing names from the voters’ register in a number of polling units; Lack of clarity on the role of party agents and representatives of candidates; Voting by seemingly under-age people; Prolonged wait between the commencement of accreditation and the actual voting, generally under challenging weather conditions; Polling units located relatively far from potential voters, especially in rural areas; Absence of ballot booths in a number of polling units; Inconsistencies in the application of procedures as directed in the INEC manual.

V. Closing of Polling Process xix. In some polling units, voting closed at 4:00pm, but in other counting has already been concluded.

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VII. Counting And Collation xx. Counting procedures started immediately after the closure of polling operations and continued without interruption till the end of the operation, when the results for the polling unit were publicly announced by the presiding officer. xxi. The counting of votes was publicly done in the presence of party agents, security personnel, national and international observers and voters who stayed behind after casting their votes. xxii. The process was generally orderly and peaceful, and was conducted in an open and transparent manner. There was no major incident, except determination of spoilt ballot.

VIII. Security Arrangements xxiii. The AU teams did not observe any significant security incident during the polling, and when the incident occurred it was handled professionally by members of the Nigeria Police present, deployed in reasonable numbers in all the polling units visited. xxiv. The AU Mission noted that the presence of members of the police forces was discreet and contributed to the peaceful and orderly environment that prevailed during the voting. The security measures established at polling units did not give the impression of intimidating or instilling fear in voters. On the contrary, the neutral, professional and friendly role played by police officers seemed to contribute to the generally peaceful atmosphere in which the presidential polls took place.

D. Findings And Recommendations Based on the observations and findings of its different teams, the African Union Observer Mission makes the following recommendations for the improvement of future electoral processes, and as a contribution to any political reforms that relevant authorities in Nigeria might envisage and carry out: The Mission noted that INEC had embarked on an inclusive voter registration process ahead of the 2011 elections. However, the voters’ registers as they stood for the Presidential Elections were not as accurate and complete as they should be. Cases of omitted or missing names were observed throughout the country, while voters were in possession of valid voter’s cards. The AU Mission therefore recommends that in future the voters’ registers be released well in advance of election day in order to allow candidates, political parties and voters to verify its accuracy and correct any possible errors.

INEC and relevant stakeholders should undertake extensive and continuous voter education initiatives to enable the electorate to understand their rights and obligations, and the whole electoral process.

The Mission noted the high level of spoilt ballot papers due, in most cases, to the spilling of ink on the ballot paper and inconsistency in the application of procedures. The Mission noted the discrepancy in the way presiding officers would validate or invalidate ballot which posed problem. It would also appear that the quality of the ink used to mark the voter’s choice on the ballot was not up to the required standards. The Mission is of the view that

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electoral legislation should be reviewed to provide for alternative voting procedures in place of thumb printing.

In the subsequent elections, INEC should not only provide polling booths at all polling units to ensure the secrecy of the ballot, but also give clear directives on how and where the ballot booths should be arranged in polling units.

Voting by under-age was one of persistent problems observed in the recently held elections. To address this, the Mission suggests that INEC, in conjunction with other relevant authorities, should put in place measures for proper screening and registration of prospective voters, in strict compliance with constitutional and legal requirements.

Over-crowding in polling units should be addressed. The initial plan by INEC to have 300 voters per polling unit is commendable.

INEC should make clear and strict provisions for the full implementation of this arrangement.

E. Conclusion On the basis of their observations and using the 2002 Declaration on the Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa, the African Union Election Observer Mission conclude that the 2011 Presidential Elections in the Federal Republic of Nigeria were conducted in a manner that allowed the people of Nigeria to express their democratic choice without any major hindrance.

The Mission would like to congratulate INEC, its leadership and staff at all levels, for its commitment, dedication and a sterling effort in overcoming all the challenges towards the delivery of successful and credible elections in the country.

The African Union Mission wishes to acclaim the people of Nigeria, political parties and candidates, as well as all the stakeholders involved in the current electoral process, for the peaceful conduct of the 2011 Presidential Elections.

It has come to the attention of the AU Mission that some acts of violence have erupted in some States since the commencement of the announcement of results. The AU Mission would like to appeal to the top political leadership and other stakeholders across the board to restrain their supporters from engaging in violent acts and to safeguard the integrity of the federal State. The Mission encourages all parties to seek redress through constitutional and legal mechanisms.

The Mission notes with regret a number of violent incidents and the bomb blasts in some States and sends its heartfelt condolences to the families of people who lost their lives in these tragic incidents.

H.E. John Agyekum Kufuor, Former President of the Republic of Ghana AU observer Mission Leader: 2011 Nigeria Presidential Elections Issued at the AU observer Mission office Sheraton Hotel Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria 18 April 2011

“We must develop a democratic culture in which the will of the people will be treated as sacred and be immune to subversion by anti-democratic elements.�

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Nigerian Election Major Step Forward APRIL 18,2011

ABUJA, Nigeria – IRI found that the April 16, 2011 presidential election was a major step forward in advancing Nigeria’s democracy. Under the capable leadership of Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Election Commission (INEC), the election overall was transparent and orderly, allowing Nigerians the opportunity to exercise their right to vote. Chairman Jega and his team have made great strides in improving the quality of Nigerian elections and deserve credit for what has been achieved in the short eight months since they were appointed.

At more than 340 polling stations where IRI observed, delegates were particularly impressed by the Nigerian people’s desire for democracy coupled with their determination to vote. Voters came early, calmly stood in line for hours to be accredited and then vote and in many cases remained in place to observe the count. The National Youth Service Corps members, who administered the election, are to be especially commended for their dedication and hard work.

Also, worthy of note was the fact that between the April 9 national assembly elections and the presidential election, INEC addressed a number of deficiencies in the election process.

Many of Nigeria’s political parties have been active participants in the electoral process, signing the Party Code of Conduct and demonstrating their willingness to accept results of the April 9 national assembly elections. IRI hopes the parties will continue to accept election results and encourages them to be a positive part of the process.

Civil society was also an active participant in the electoral process and played a significant role by conducting voter education campaigns and serving as domestic observers during the national assembly and presidential elections. Strengthening the role of civil society organizations and ensuring they have the resources to conduct voter education will improve future Nigerian elections IRI delegates also noted the role women played in the national assembly and presidential elections. Women served as poll workers, provided security and voted in large numbers in the urban centers.

However, the extent to which women are fully participating in the political process needs to be addressed.

IRI’s delegation recognizes that all elections are a process of preelection environment and pre-election administration, Election Day voting, vote counting, post-election adjudication and acceptance

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The International Republican Institute

of legitimate results. Even though IRI’s delegation is not yet able to assess the acceptance of the results, the overall conclusion is that in at least four areas this election was different from the previous three national elections – particularly from the election in 2007 where IRI observed and reported serious electoral fraud and disenfranchisement of the voters. The areas where IRI observed the most improvements are: Theoverallintegrityoftheelectoralprocess; The professionalism and independence of INEC, specifically the appointment of Chairman Jega and Nigerians’ confidence in his leadership and ability to oversee open and transparent elections; A more proper role of security forces; and A reduction in election-related violence.

As Nigeria enters the final stage of the electoral process for the presidential election and repares for the gubernatorial, state assembly and local government elections, IRI’s delegation encourages the political parties and election and government officials at all levels to respect the will of voters by conducting the vote tabulation in a transparent and honest manner. The delegation further encourages all candidates and their followers to accept legitimate results and file legitimate complaints with the proper authorities.

In meetings with IRI and other international election observation delegations. Chairman Jega has said that Nigerians must not rest on their laurels and that they must continue to build on the high election standards set on April 16. In this context, IRI will issue a comprehensive report in the future which will include recommendations on how Nigeria can continue to strengthen its election institutions and processes. Among the issues to be covered in those recommendations will be: 1) revisiting recommendations of the Electoral Reform Committee which were not adopted by the National Assembly; 2) improving the voter list to ensure people are

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properly registered; 3) strengthening civic education so all Nigerians fully understand the nature of the election process and their role; 4) ensuring that the political parties evolve into constructive actors in the process, respecting democratic values in their internal behavior and commitment to transparent elections; 5) addressing the problem of underage voting; and 6) ensuring polling stations have a manageable number of registered voters.

While violence has been relatively low during these elections, the IRI delegation extends its sympathy for those people and their families who have died or been injured during the process.

Representatives from Bangladesh, Canada, Estonia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mexico, Norway, Sierra Leone, Slovenia and the United States observed accreditation, voting and ballot counting in Abuja, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Cross Rivers, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Lagos, Nasarawa and Ogun.

IRI’s delegation was led by former Slovenian Prime Minister and current Member of Parliament Janez Janša and Constance Berry Newman, member of IRI’s Board of Directors, former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and former U.S. Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator for Africa.

Other IRI delegates were: Nadia Diuk, Vice President, Programs – Africa, Central Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and Caribbean at the National Endowment for Democracy; Valerie Dowling, Political Director for the National Federation of Republican Women; Rich Galen, political strategist and commentator; Deborah Grey, former member of the Canadian Parliament and first-ever female leader of the official opposition; Arturo Sanchez Gutierrez, advisor to the Federal Electoral Institute in Mexico; Jake Hale, founder of CS Advisors, LLC; Maureen Harrington, former Vice President for Policy and International Relations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation; Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah, Chairman of the National Election Observation Council (JANIPOP) in Bangladesh; Darren Kew, Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution and the Executive Director of the Center for Peace, Democracy and Development at the University of Massachusetts at Boston McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies;

■ Peter Manu, Vice Chairman of the International Democratic Union and National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party in Ghana; Ray McNally, President and Creative Director at McNally Temple Associates, Inc.; Victoria Middleton, Chief of Staff to U.S. Congressman Duncan D. Hunter (CA); John Morlu, Auditor General of the General Auditing Commission in Liberia; Maimuna Abdalla Mwidau, Chairperson of the League of Muslim Women of Kenya; Mart Nutt, member of the Estonian Parliament; J. Peter Pham, Director of the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center at the Atlantic Council; Christiana Thorpe, Chief of the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission; and Christopher Tuttle, Director of the Washington Program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

IRI staff also served as observers and assisted in the mission.

They were led by Judy Van Rest, Executive Vice President; Dan Fisk, Vice President for Policy and Strategic Planning; Paul Fagan, Regional Director of IRI’s Africa division based in Washington, DC; and Mourtada Deme, Country Director of IRI’s Nigeria program based in Abuja. Upon arrival in Nigeria, delegates were briefed by representatives from the U.S. Embassy, INEC, international and Nigerian nongovernmental organizations and political parties. They were also briefed on Nigerian election law and the rights and responsibilities of international observers.

IRI also fielded a pre-election assessment mission earlier this year, which was led by His Excellency John Kufuor, former President of Ghana, and deployed 12 long-term observers to Nigeria’s six geo-political regions. IRI’s long-term observers have been in Nigeria since March monitoring the campaigns and preparations for the national assembly elections, the presidential election and the gubernatorial, state assembly and local government elections. They also participated in observing the April 16 presidential election.

IRI has monitored more than 135 elections in more than 40 countries, including Nigeria’s 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections.

Ann Liebschutz, Executive Director of the U.S. – Israel Science and Technology Foundation; Beate Bergsholm Lindgard, Regional Campaign Manager and Head of Office of the Conservative Party in Norway; Robert B. Lloyd, Associate Professor of International Relations at Pepperdine University; Djingarey Maiga, Executive Director of Femmes et Droits Humains in Mali;

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COMISSIĚ€O DA CEDEAO Ecowas Observer Mission To The Presidential Elections Of 16 April 2011 In The Federal Republic Of Nigeria

Preliminary Declaration 1. The President of the ECOWAS Commission, H.E. James Victor Gbeho, in line with the provisions of the ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, deployed an Observation Mission comprising three hundred (300) persons to observe the Nigerian Presidential Election of 16 April 2011. ECOWAS Observers were deployed in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

2. The Mission, headed by H.E. Amos Claudius Sawyer, former Head of the Interim Na- tional Government of the Republic of Liberia, is part of efforts by ECOWAS to support Member States in the process of consolidating democracy and good governance. The Mission’s primary aim, in the case of Nigeria, is to ensure that it meets the criteria of a free, transparent and credible Election.

3. As the Head of ECOWAS Election Observation Mission, H.E. Amos Sawyer paid a courtesy call on the incumbent President of Nigeria who is also the Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority. The Head of Mission also called on Vice Presidential candidates of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Nigerian Police Force. He also met with representatives of Civil Society Organisations such as the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Swift Count Coalition, as well as the Heads of different Observation Missions including the European Union, African Union and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

4. Following these talks which centred on preparations for the polls, the Head of Mission was reassured by the commitments made and concrete steps already taken by the differ- ent stakeholders in the electoral process, to guarantee that the presidential elections were conducted under the best possible conditions. In particular, the Observation Mission was pleased to note the efforts made by the INEC to resolve some logistical and security problems encountered during the legislative elections of April 9, 2011. As a result of the foregoing, the Mission noted with satisfaction: Efforts by the security agencies to ensure that the elections are conducted in a peaceful environment; Measures taken to ensure better cooperation and synergy among the various entities involved in the organisation of the

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elections, especially towards making the voting process secure; Concrete steps taken by the INEC to ascertain among inter alia, that electoral officers are in full control of the polling processes especially the responsibility for ensuring the availability of adequate voting materials at polling stations; Specific arrangements made to deal with problems that could arise from a high voter turnout on election day and ensure that appropriate conditions exist for the conduct of the polls and to also guarantee transparency throughout the voting process; Efforts by the Federal Government to provide adequate finances required to support the electoral process.

5. These measures, in the opinion of ECOWAS, are encouraging and underscore the determination and commitment of all stakeholders to ensure confidence and credibility of the electoral process for a more peaceful atmosphere in the run-up to the elections.

6. As a result of the information obtained by observer teams deployed in the six (6) geo- political zones, (ie: South-East, SouthWest, South-South, North Central, North-East, North-West) and the Federal Capital Territory, the Mission made the following preliminary assessment of the accreditation and voting process: a. Good turnout of voters although there were lower numbers recorded in some parts of the South; b. Manifest enthusiasm of the majority of voters; c. Timely availability of all election materials in the majority of polling stations; d. The orderly and peaceful atmosphere which prevailed throughout the process; e. High participation of women and young people; f. Relatively good knowledge of and compliance with voting procedures by election of- ficials and consequently their enhanced capacity to effectively administer the process; g. Presence of representatives of major political parties including the

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ACN, CPC and PDP in most polling stations; h. The presence of an adequate number of security operatives at polling stations, particu- larly in sensitive areas; i. Successful conduct of the process of counting at the polling stations in accordance with the Electoral Act. 7. However, some shortcomings were observed during the electoral exercise. They are: (i) incomplete voter registers in some polling stations; (ii) differences in the interpretation by INEC officials of procedures for concurrent ac- creditation and voting; (iii) the closure of a few polling stations before the official closing time resulting in the in- ability of previously accredited voters to cast their votes; and (iv) slow rate of voting in some stations mainly due to an imbalance in the ratio of voters to electoral officials.

The Mission also noted that in some areas especially in the SouthSouth (Akwa Ibom, Delta) observers were not allowed to observe the voting in the pre- cinct at polling stations. It is hoped that appropriate measures will be taken by INEC to avoid a repetition of this in the next tranche of the elections.

8. The shortcomings mentioned require remedial action by the Authorities to further enhance the credibility of the electoral process.

However, the ECOWAS Mission is of the view that, notwithstanding these shortcomings, the organisation of the election can be considered as generally acceptable.

9. Having found no major incidents or irregularities, the ECOWAS Observation Mission is persuaded that the presidential election of April 16, 2011 meets the criteria of being free and transparent.

11. In particular, the Mission congratulates the INEC for its leadership and professional- ism. It also pays tribute to the security agencies for their impartial and exemplary conduct during the elections.

12. The Mission also commends the enthusiasm, maturity and sense of civic responsi- bility demonstrated by the electorate. It hopes that the same spirit of respect for order and discipline will characterize the rest of the electoral process. Voters are also urged to maintain their high sense of responsibility and tolerance during the remaining election period.

13. Similarly, the Mission calls on all candidates in the presidential election, to accept the outcome of the polls and where absolutely necessary, may resort to constitutional and legal channels, for remedy.

14. The Mission regrets the violent incidents that occurred at the end of the voting pro- cess, particularly in Maiduguri and Kaduna, which in some cases led to the loss of lives. It, therefore, urges the relevant authorities to take necessary measures to avoid similar occurrences in the future.

15. Finally, the ECOWAS Observation Mission wishes to thank the Federal Government of Nigeria and INEC, for ensuring that adequate security and other measures were put in place to facilitate the successful deployment and observation of the presidential election by the ECOWAS Observation Team.

The Head of Mission Done at Abuja this 17th day of April 2011

10. Therefore, the ECOWAS Observation Mission would like to commend the Federal Government of Nigeria and all other stakeholders for ensuring a peaceful and orderly election, thus making it a historic step for the strengthening of democracy and good governance in Nigeria.

“I pledge once again to all the people of this nation that they will have free and fair elections, even as I stand to be a candidate.� Sept 18, 2010.�

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Commonwealth Observer Group Nigeria National Assembly and Presidential Elections 2011 INTERIM STATEMENT

by H/E Festus Mogae, Chairman, Commonwealth Observer Group Commonwealth Observer Group Nigeria National Assembly and Presidential Elections 2011 INTERIM STATEMENT by H E Festus Mogae, Chairman, Commonwealth Observer Group The Commonwealth was invited by the Independent National Elector- al Commission (INEC) of Nigeria to observe the 2011 elections. Following an assessment mission from the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretary-General ac- cepted the invitation and constituted an Observer Group of thirteen persons, supported by a team from the Secretariat. I was privileged to lead this distinguished Group, which has been in Nigeria since 26 March 2011; we extended our stay after the National As- sembly and Presidential elections were both postponed by a week.

At the start of our mission and subsequently, we met with the Chairman and senior officials of INEC, some presidential candidates, other representatives of political parties, civil society, the media, Commonwealth High Commissioners, as well as other international and domestic observers. Through these consultations, we have made an effort to develop a proper understanding of the political scene in Nigeria and the issues that preoc- cupy the stakeholders.

Commonwealth teams were based in eight locations around the country, both for the National Assembly elections on 9 April and the Presidential elections on 16 April (after having also been deployed for the postponed National Assembly elections on 2 April). Our teams met with Resident Electoral Commissioners and other INEC officials, do- mestic and international observers and other stakeholders at the State and local levels, in order to assess the situation in their respective areas of coverage. On the two election days and thereafter, they observed the accreditation, voting, counting and collation of results.

Everywhere we went, we were warmly welcomed by Nigerians from all walks of life. This is an interim statement, meant to provide an initial summary assessment of the electoral process as we observed it. We will shortly submit a Final Report to the Com- monwealth Secretary-General, setting out our findings on the entire process and our recommendations in greater detail.

Electoral Framework and Management of the Process

We believe that Nigeria’s 2010 Electoral Act, as well as the 1999 Constitution (as amend- ed) provided the necessary conditions for INEC to function as an independent and im- partial election management body. INEC was also provided with sufficient resources

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for a protracted and expensive electoral process.

Timelines for the conduct of a poll must provide enough time for all stages to be ad- equately completed so as not to impact negatively on other aspects of the process, notably in confirming candidate nominations in good time for the poll, ballot printing and distribution of materials. Further, all printing of ballots and other sensitive materials should be conducted with safeguards, so as to avoid the unfortunate delays that affected the 2 April postponed polls.

It is desirable for late changes to the Electoral Act to be avoided.

Amending an Act so close to the conduct of the elections creates uncertainty and a lack of clarity and aware- ness among stakeholders as to the procedures and institutional responsibilities.

The creation of a new biometric Voter Register within a short space of time was a major achievement and a significant factor in the credibility of the 2011 elections. How- ever, the time available for registration was too short. The register needs to be rectified to include all eligible voters and thereafter to be properly maintained, with continuous checks to address anomalies.

We welcome INEC’s intention to do so. We believe that removing the current prohibi- tion on independent candidates would increase participation rights and might also help to alleviate some of the tensions which currently bedevil political party primaries.

We were deeply disappointed to see the low percentage of women candidates in the elections. We strongly urge political parties to mainstream gender policies and signifi- cantly increase the number of women in positions of leadership and decision-making, as well as to ensure a level playing field for female aspirants to political office.

Participation rights would also be more fully provided for if the minimum age require- ments for National and State Assembly candidates were appropriately reduced.

There needs to be an arrangement for persons performing election duty on polling day to be able to exercise their right to vote; we believe that over a million people may have been disenfranchised for want of such a mechanism.

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The Campaign

We were encouraged by the vigorous campaigns undertaken by political parties and can- didates and even more so by the fact that they focused on manifestos and policies, rather than on personalities, particularly at the level of the presidential elections.

We welcome the generally peaceful nature of the campaign and the electoral process. At the same time, we were saddened by the instances of violence that took place during the campaign as well as subsequently. We have already condemned the cowardly attacks on innocent persons in Suleja and Maiduguri that claimed several lives and maimed many others. Such violence has no place in a democracy.

The Code of Conduct for Political Parties is a valuable feature that needs to be consoli- dated and implemented in letter and spirit.

The Inter-Party Advisory Committee should become a standing mechanism for resolving differences and promoting consensus among political stakeholders.

Voting, Counting and Results

The experience of 2 April should not have happened. While INEC managed to hold a reasonable election on 9 April and improved its performance further on 16 April, it clearly needs to improve on its organisational capacity.

The special process of accreditation of voters devised by INEC was a response to the malpractices of the past, in particular the phenomenon of multiple voting. However, in the event some aspects of the procedures were abandoned because they were impracti- cal.

There remain shortcomings with the voter registration, based on the number of people with voter cards but missing from the voter register. This needs to be urgently addressed. There needs to be stricter safeguards against underage voting, a phenomenon witnessed in parts of the country.

Some of the polling units we visited were poorly located and badly laid out, creating unnecessary problems for INEC staff and security personnel. There was no protection from the elements in most cases.

Some polling units were also ill-equipped in terms of basic furniture and lighting.

The secrecy of the ballot needs better protection. Many did not seem to mind voting under the gaze of others – and some did not bother to fold their ballots for fear of spoil- ing them. However, their right to a secret ballot is sacrosanct and cannot be taken for granted. We commend the inclusiveness and transparency of the counting and collation process wherever our teams were present.

Overall, training provided to polling officials must be improved to ensure greater con istency in the application of procedures and increased awareness among staff of the correct modalities for each stage of the process.

The Media

We were impressed by Nigeria’s vigorous media and by the coverage it provided to the electoral process. We noted the predominant exposure given in the media to the ruling party and its presidential candidate, which is to some extent a reflection of the resources at the party’s command.

The National Broadcasting Commission should ensure that the state media accords equitable coverage to all stakeholders, particularly during the campaign period.

Some of the private media must also transcend narrow partisan considerations and report more objectively and in the larger interest of the nation.

Overall Impressions

The April 2011 elections marked a genuine celebration of democracy in Africa’s most populous country and a key member of the Commonwealth. Previously held notions that Nigeria can only hold flawed elections are now being discarded and this country can now shake off that stigma and redeem its image. Notwithstanding the organisational deficien- cies that resulted in the 2 April National Assembly elections being aborted after they had started, and in spite of persistent procedural inconsistencies and technical shortcomings, the elections for the National Assembly and the Presidency were both credible and credit- able and reflected the will of the Nigerian people.

The success of the electoral process must be attributed in large measure to the respect and confidence enjoyed by INEC, and in particular by its Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega. In him, the nation was able to look up to a person of deep integrity, transparency and commitment, who was determined to make every Nigerian’s vote count. His willing- ness to accept full responsibility for the fiasco of 2 April, and his readiness to postpone the National Assembly elections a second time in response to requests by the stakeholders, helped Nigerians keep faith in INEC, which eventually did not let them down.

We commend the contribution made by the National Youth Service Corps, whose members worked as ad hoc INEC staff for the elections. These young Nigerians, a large number of whom were women, showed dedication and courage in helping to deliver a transparent electoral process, often in difficult conditions. They are a source of pride and hope for Nigeria.

Our appreciation goes also to the Nigerian security forces, drawn from various services, whose strenuous and coordinated efforts ensured that the elections were largely held in an atmosphere of peace and order. But credit for the success of the electoral process must go, most of all, to the people of Nigeria themselves.

Right from when we arrived in this country we were struck by the popular mood of determination to realise genuine democ- racy. We noted the deep-seated public frustration at the history of deficient elections and the desire to make a new beginning. Across the length and breadth of the country, the people of Nigeria demonstrated exemplary dignity, responsibility and forbearance, wait- ing the entire day peacefully and patiently under the hot sun, or in heavy rain, to exercise their franchise. We salute them and wish them well as the custodians of their hard-earned democracy.

Abuja, 18 April 2011 For media enquiries, please contact Mr. Julius Mucunguzi at + 234 (0)706 359 7240 or j.mucunguzi@commonwealth.int

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Statement on the Presidential Elections Results Monday April 18, 2011 Delivered at the Sheraton Hotel, Abuja

Ladies and gentlemen of the press, on behalf of the National Steering Committee (NSC) of Project 2011 Swift Count, it is our pleasure to welcome you to this press conference to report on the official results of the presidential election as announced by INEC. Project 2011 Swift Count is jointly carried out by the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations in Nigeria (FOMWAN), Justice Development and Peace/Caritas (JDPC), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and Transition Monitoring Group (TMG). Thus reflecting the rich diversity of Nigeria, it brings together Christians and Muslims, as well as organizations with citizen election observation and legal expertise.

Project 2011 Swift Count can confidently confirm that the official results as announced by INEC are consistent with the Swift Count estimates, which are based on official results from a representative random sample of polling units. This clearly demonstrates the results as announced by INEC reflect the votes cast by Nigerians at polling units.

Project 2011 Swift Count congratulates INEC, the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), political parties, security agencies, civic organizations and, most importantly, the people of Nigeria on the success of the Presidential elections. This is truly an historic event not only for Nigeria, but all of Africa.

Project 2011 Swift Count was undertaken by the partners in response to the brazen electoral fraud in the past. Rather than giving into this frustration, we have redoubled our efforts and have adopted a new and advanced approach to citizen observation in Nigeria, drawing upon the best practices from around the world, but also adapting them to Nigerian ways. This new approach is called Swift Count and is designed to help restore electoral accountability in Nigeria so that everyone’s vote counts.

Swift Count is an advanced observer methodology. It employs information and com- munication technology (ICT) and statistical principles to enable observers to provide more representative and accurate information about the electoral process in real time to voters, political contestants and INEC. It also permits verification of the official results as announced by INEC. For the presidential election, Project 2011 Swift Count deployed observers to a repre- sentative random sample of 1,497 polling units

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located in every state and LGA of the country. To ensure the sample is representative, it was stratified by state and LGA. This means that the percentage of sampled polling units in any state or LGA closely matches the percentage of total polling units in that state or LGA. For example, according to INEC, Jigawa state has 3,527 of the 119,860 polling units or 2.9% of the total number of polling units in Nigeria. In the Swift Count presidential sample, Jigawa has 44 polling units representing 2.9% of the 1,497 polling units in the entire sample. The same logic is applied within states to allocate the sample to each LGA. Within each LGA, polling stations are selected entirely at random. The result is a national sample that is both representative and unbiased and that includes polling units in every state (and the FCT) and in all 774 LGAs. Attached to this press statement is the full dis- tribution of the presidential sample by state.

As of 4:00 pm on Sunday 17 April, Project 2011 Swift Count had received reports from 1,441 of the 1,497 sampled polling units or 96%. Attached to this press statement is the detailed response rate information by state. A total of 471,876 Nigerians cast their ballots at these observed polling units. Observer reports have been received from all 36 states and the FCT as well as from 752 of the 774 LGAs. All Swift Count data was checked for inter- nal consistency and to confirm its accuracy. In addition, to ensure the highest level of data quality, two observers were assigned to each sampled polling unit and both were required to send in reports, including the official results, via coded text message. All Swift Count data is based on the official results as announced by polling officials at polling stations.

The findings of the Swift Count for the Presidential election for candidates receiving more than 1% of the vote are:

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The order and magnitude of the official results for each presidential candidate is the same as the Swift Count estimate. Attached to this press release are Swift Count estimates for all parties.

Given the absence of widespread deficiencies in the process and the independent veri- fication of the official results by nonpartisan citizen observers, political contestants, their supporters as well as the general public should have confidence in the presidential results as declared by INEC as an accurate reflection of how Nigerians voted on April 16th .

INEC has conducted the collation of presidential results in a very open manner. Offi- cial results by state have immediately been posted on the internet for anyone to see. In or- der to ensure even greater transparency and accountability Project 2011 Swift Count calls upon INEC to also post polling unit level results on its website.

To give INEC, political contestants and the public greater confidence in this new methodology Project 2011 Swift Count will also publish on our website the official results from the individual sampled polling units that were used to calculate the Swift Count estimates for anyone to see.

Project 2011 Swift Count now calls upon all political contestants and their support- ers to respect the will of the Nigerian people and to accept the results in good faith. We encourage those candidates who lost to concede defeat gracefully and to be mindful that one of the strengths of any democratic system is that there will always be another elec- tion. To the victorious candidate, we call upon him and his supporters to be magnanimous and remember that the

President must represent all Nigerians –those who supported him as well as those who voted for other candidates. The partners again call upon all Nige- rians to remain calm and refrain from any acts of violence. All political leaders should immediately and clearly make statements denouncing all acts of postelection violence re- gardless of perpetrators.

State elections will be held on April 26th. Project 2011 Swift Count will again deploy more than 7,000 stationary observers at polling units in every state and every LGA of the country and nearly 1,000 mobile observers. We again call upon INEC to ensure that all accredited observers are able to move freely and to access polling units and collation cen- tres across the country. We will conduct pilot gubernatorial Swift Counts in six states: Plateau (NC), Borno (NE), Kano (NW), Imo (SE), Delta (SS) and Oyo (SW). One state was selected per geopolitical zone based on a number of factors including degree of con- testation and concerns over possible postelection violence. This will enable Project 2011 Swift Count to provide realtime, systematic information on the conduct of these elections and to verify the accuracy of official result for select gubernatorial elections as announced by INEC. Nigeria needs to move beyond the politics of winner takes all.

God Bless Nigeria For media inquiries please contact: Muritala AbdulRasheed: Tel. +234 8033231849 Email media@pscnigeria. org Chibuike Mgbeahu- ruike: Tel +234 7036024736 Learn more about Project 2011 Swift Count at www.pscnigeria.org

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EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 18 April 2011, A 157/11

EUROPEAN UNION

Statement by the High Representative, Catherine Ashton, on the presidential election in Nigeria Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, made today the following statement: “I welcome the spirit of calm and restraint that characterized the conduct of the April 16th presidential election in Nigeria which appears to be the most credible election since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. I also congratulate the Nigerian people for their determination in exercising their right to vote for the democratic future of their country.

This election is an important step forward towards consolidating democracy in Nige- ria and should lead to better governance in the interest of the people of Nigeria and the broader region.

The European Union commends the continuous efforts of INEC and its Chairman to improve the electoral process. Nigeria can be proud of the dedication and commitment of the National Youth Service Corps. The security agencies also played an important role in ensuring the overall peaceful conduct of the election.

However, the EU condemns the attempts made to destabilize the process, and in particu- lar the bomb attacks before and during the election and other violent acts. Any legitimate challenges to the declared election results should be addressed in a timely, transparent and peaceful manner. I urge all stakeholders to exercise restraint in the aftermath of the presi- dential election and to respect the will of the voters. I also urge them to continue working together to ensure credible and peaceful Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

I commend the contributions of international and civil society domestic observers. The independent EU Election Observation Mission,

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The European Union Election Observation Mission Federal republic of nigeria general elections 2011 PRELIMINARY STATEMENT Important step towards strengthening democratic elections, but challenges remain Abuja, 18 April 2011 The European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) is present in Nigeria since 1 March 2011 following an invitation from the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The EU EOM is led by Chief Observer, Alojz Peterle, a Member of the European Parliament. It com- prises a Core Team of nine analysts based in Abuja, 52 Long-Term Observers (LTO), 60 Short-Term Observers (STO) and 15 Locally-recruited Short-Term observers (LSTO) from the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, and of Norway and Switzerland present in Nigeria. Shortly before the Presidential elections, the EU EOM was joined by a fourmember delegation from the European Parliament, led by Mariya Nedelcheva. The delegation of the European Parliament endorses this preliminary statement. In total, for the Presidential elections the EU EOM deployed 141 observers from the 27 EU Member States, as well as from Norway and Switzerland to all the States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria. The mission will remain in country to observe the Governor- ship and State House of Assembly elections and post-polling developments. This state- ment is preliminary. At the time of printing, the collation process and the petitions and appeals phase was still open. A final report with recommendations will be presented to the authorities of Nigeria within two months after the departure of the mission from Nigeria.

The EU EOM operates autonomously under its specific mandate and in compliance with the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observers, commemorated at the United Nations in New York in October 2005.

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS The appointment of Professor Attahiru Jega as the new Chairman of the Indepen- dent National Electoral Commission (INEC) improved the confidence of the electorate. The voters’ registration conducted between January and February 2011 further increased this trust in the process. The postponement of the 2 April’s elections was presented as a means to protect the integrity of the process and the conduct on 9 April of the National Assembly resulted in a boost of public confidence, increasing expectations for

european union election observation mission

the Presi- dential elections.

The 2011 Presidential election day showed a generally peaceful and orderly process with enthusiastic voters committed to patiently attend accreditation and voting from the early hours on Saturday 16 April.

On election day, violence was not as intense as during previous elections. The au- thorities were serious in their commitment to minimise the escalation of clashes between political rivals. However, during the election campaign serious violent confrontations occurred.

If compared with the National Assembly elections held on 9 April, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) managed to improve the overall organisation of the polling day, mainly during the accreditation and counting phases. Nevertheless during voting, inconsistent implementation of procedures and attempts to influence voters were noted. Moreover, the INEC results coming from the States in South-South and South-East show percentages close to 100 percent.

The accuracy of the voters‘ register appears to have improved since the National Assembly elections. Yet problems remain and INEC should continue addressing this issue before the next elections.

The decision of INEC to divide polling units into manageable voting points, with a maximum of 300 voters per unit was to allow for smoother accredita- tion and voting. However, INEC did not manage to consistently implement this decision. Although in the observed cases, the display of the results at the polling units improved significantly, more efforts are needed for the display of results at ward and local government areas (LGA) collation centres.

The EU EOM considers that generally the work of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is commendable as they endeavoured to perform their duties with courage and to their best capacity.

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Nigeria’s vibrant and diverse media spectrum offered a pluralistic political discourse and an intense pre-election campaign coverage to the electorate. However, only the per- sons residing in urban zones could become familiar with the political parties and their candidates, as in these areas access to a wider range of information sources was available. The broadcast media coverage of the pre-election campaign differed according to the media houses and in general, did not comply with the provisions on equal and equitable coverage of the political parties and candidates, as stipulated in the Electoral Act 2010, as amended.

Women remain under-represented in public and political life.

Only one presidential candidate and nine per cent of the candidates for the National Assembly contested in the polls. In general, female candidates faced economic and social constraints to be nominated by parties. They lacked financial resources to equally compete with men. Some female candidates were victims of threats and physical violence.

Civil Society Organizations (CSO) were engaged in a positive dialogue with INEC. They played an important role in promoting an orderly electoral process. CSO’s brought to public attention among other issues, the timely address of logistical challenges, the need for civic education on voting procedures and the establishment of INEC Election Day hotlines.

In general, the legal framework appears to provide a reasonable basis for the conduct of democratic elections. The 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees fundamental freedoms, while electionrelated legislative provisions are generally in line with interna- tional standards for election. The channels for addressing election-related petitions and appeals also appear to be clear. Nevertheless, the Electoral Act 2010, as amended does not provide for voters to lodge a complaint when an infringement of their electoral rights has occurred.

Recent amendments to the Constitution and the Electoral Act provide for procedures, aiming to increase the internal parties’ democracy during their primaries. However, fur- ther improvements and commensurate political will are required to address remaining challenges, such as the absence of provisions for independent candidates to run for office.

The judiciary is playing a critical role in the process, being inundated so far with petitions lodged after political parties’ primaries. Nevertheless, the absence of time limits for the resolution of electoral disputes by the courts before the election days delayed legal redress during a time-sensitive period and led to a number of judgement being delivered by the courts only a few days before the polls.

PRELIMINARY FINDINGS BACKGROUND The 2011 General Elections of the Federal Republic of Nigeria follow the widely rigged and disputed 2007 elections and are the fourth elections since the country’s return to de- mocracy in 1999. The death of President Umaru Yar’Adua in May 2010 determined the succession of the Vicepresident Goodluck Jonathan in the same year.

In June 2010, President Jonathan appointed Professor Attahiru Jega as the new Chair- man of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for his reputation and com- petency, marking a change with the previous INEC Chair. He was designated in recognition of the role he played in the Electoral Reform Committee that was established to review the electoral process and the legal framework after the 2007 elections.

INEC scheduled the 2011 elections for three consecutive weekends in April1. On 2 April, on the National Assembly election day, during a live broadcast at noon, Prof. Jega informed the public that due to the late arrival of the result sheets in many parts of the country, the National Assembly elections were postponed to 4 April. On 3 April in another televised speech, Prof. Jega announced that after consultations with the political parties all the elections were shifted by a week from the original schedule: on 9 April the National Assembly, on 16 April the Presidential elections and on 26 April, after Easter holiday the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections. The need to re-print a number of ballot papers was announced on 7 April and caused a third postponement for 15 Senato- rial Districts and 48 Federal Constituencies, which are to be held simultaneously with the gubernatorial polls.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK Nigeria follows the common law legal system and has ratified the international instru- ments relevant to the protection of civil and political rights related to elections. The legal framework for the 2011 General Elections appears to provide an adequate basis for the conduct of democratic elections in accordance with international principles. Nevertheless, a number of issues remain to be addressed and an exercise of political will by all stakehold- ers is required to ensure proper implementation. The legal framework comprises mainly the 1999 Constitution, as amended2, and the 2010 Electoral Act, that underwent a series of revisions since its enactment.

Among the major improvements of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, is the regula- tion of the financial and administrative independence of INEC from the executive, the establishment

1 On 2 April the elections for the National Assembly (Senate and the House of Representatives), on 9 April the Presidential elections and on 16 April for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections. 2 The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria underwent a series of significant revisions, first in July 2010 and again in December 2010, com- ing into force on 10 January 2011.

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of Election Tribunals for each State and for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and shortened deadlines for filing petitions after the declaration of results. Regret- tably, the amendments failed to introduce some of the recommendations suggested by national and international observers, and by the Electoral Reform Committee, such as the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission3.

Existing shortcomings in the legal framework include the INEC Commissioners appointment process and the absence of provisions for independent candidates to run for office, thus restricting the effective rights to stand for elections and limiting the voters’ choice of candidates.

The Electoral Act 2010, as amended, includes detailed provisions for post-election liti- gation and places emphasis on the pre-hearing of petitions. Under the provisions of the Act, election petitions can only be filed by candidates and political parties, which participated in the elections, within 21 days of the declaration of results.

The deadlines for the dispute-resolution process are significantly shortened. Although the new and comprehen- sive Electoral Act 20104 further strengthened the electoral process, some concerns remain, particularly in regard to not providing for filing of complaints by voters on breaches of the law during polling and counting, and the absence of time limits for the filing, consideration and adjudication of election complaints and appeals prior to polling.

Furthermore, in rela- tion to polling, counting and collation of results the Act is relatively vague, this negatively affecting the transparency of the electoral process.

ELECTION ADMINISTRATION INEC, inaugurated on 30 June 2010, is mandated to conduct elections to the offices of the President, the Governor, to the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly of each State of the Federation. INEC is a permanent body, composed of twelve Commissioners and headed by a Chairperson who is the Chief Electoral Commissioner. All members are directly appointed by the President after consultation with the Council of State and confirmation by the Senate for a five-year tenure. INEC meetings are closed sessions. Quorum requires a third of Commissioners to be present and decisions are taken by majority.

The offices in all 36 States and in the FCT, staffed by Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC), also appointed by the President, manage State level election administrative duties. Lower level organizational structures include 774 LGA offices, further subdivided into 8,809 wards, these without permanent INEC structures.

Approximately 120,000 polling units were made operational for voting and generally they were the same locations used for the voter registration exercise conducted from January to February

2011. A final poll- ing unit list was made public, but a breakdown of assigned voters to each unit is still not available.

Voting was organised in separate phases throughout the election days simultaneously around the country: in the morning for the accreditation of registered voters and in the afternoon for voting.

Only accredited voters were allowed to cast a ballot.

Adequate, timely training and staffing of polling units was a considerable challenge. The training of trainers was conducted in Abuja on 8 and 9 March. Cascade training on State level took place between 15 and 25 March, just a week before the initially scheduled elec- tion day. In all, INEC planned to train approximately 325,000 polling workers and 1,497 Returning Officers. Similarly to the voter registration exercise, polling staff was drawn from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). Where the EU EOM observed the train- ing, it considered it to be insufficient and poorly conducted, with overcrowded halls and lacking reading material.

Nevertheless, the Mission considers that generally the work of NYSC is commendable as they endeavoured to perform their duties with courage and to their best capacity.

The decision of INEC to divide polling units into manageable voting points, with a maximum of 300 voters per unit was to allow for smoother accreditation and voting. How- ever, INEC did not manage to consistently implement this decision.

The legal requirement to conclude the revision of the register not later than 30 days be- fore the first elections was not met.

The number of omissions on the voters’ register was an indicator that INEC experienced persistent difficulties to timely edit a comprehensive list. The number of disenfranchised voters cannot be ascertained at this point. INEC stated that it would endeavour to continuously improve on the inclusiveness and accuracy of the register. Varying procedures at polling units in regard to voters not found on the register but in possession of a voters’ card were observed. In some instances, these voters were al- lowed to cast a ballot, though INEC guidelines clearly state the contrary.

Despite repeated public appeals made by INEC’s Chairman asking for the engagement of community leaders in preventing underage voting, the problem persisted both during National Assembly and Presidential elections. The full extent of this phenomenon, its regional or national dimension, cannot be ascertained. Underage participation stems from the voter registration exercise. However, the voter identification safeguards, combined with the presiding officers authority to remove any underage voter from the voting unit should have been a sufficient preventive measure.

The Presidential partial results from all the States and the FCT are collated and announced by the Chief Electoral Officer, the INEC’s Chairman. A National Collation Cen- tre was established for that purpose in Abuja. No definitive time line for the complete an-

3 The Nigerian Bar Association and Human Rights Watch jointly called on the National Assembly on 14 March to pass the Electoral Offences Commission Bill (presented to the National Assembly in April 2009) that would establish the Electoral Offences Commission for investigating and prosecuting electoral offences under the Act, stating that INEC does not have the resources or capacity to prosecute all election-related abuses. 4 The Electoral Act 2006 was amended in August 2010, primarily to reflect the relevant changes to the Constitution and was further amended on 29 December 2010 and on 24 January 2011, in order to accommodate INEC’s request for extension of the timeline for the conduct of the registration and polling.

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nouncement of results is provided in the electoral framework, other than the provision of issuing a certificate to every winning candidate within seven days of the return of results.

Both for the National Assembly and the Presidential elections, INEC declared that it would investigate instances of reported irregularities and disruption of the election pro- cess. It is noteworthy that INEC announced its intention to disclose the nature of the submitted complaints.

VOTER REGISTRATION

In accordance with the recommendations of the EU EOM 2007 Final Report and the Electoral Reform Committee’s report, INEC considered that a new register was crucial to improve the confidence of the electorate, despite the very tight schedule.

Approximately 240,000 ad hoc staff were recruited and trained, mostly enrolled from the NYSC. On 2 March INEC released the certified register: 73,528,040 voters.

Compared to the 2007 voters’ register, the EU EOM noted a significant increase of registered electors of over 40 per cent in States such as Adamawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Ni- ger, Nassarawa, Plateau, Lagos and Oyo, and conversely a decrease of voters in States as Enugu and Bayelsa.

Multiple registrations were a concern and attempts were made to remove false and du- plicated names. The de-duplication process reportedly involved matching registration data across LGA’s, States and Federal level. To this end, INEC declared to have used specific software and identified 870,612 duplicates. INEC stated that it intends to prosecute all double registrants.

Despite good cooperation with INEC, the EU EOM was not granted sufficient access to be in the position to assess neither the process of de-duplication nor about how INEC reached the final number of 73 million registered voters. INEC claimed to post relevant information timely on its website. Nevertheless, a full breakdown of the voters’ register was not made available.

CAMPAIGN ENVIRONMENT Parties in general conducted a campaign at grass-root level and rallies or street parades at State and LGA level. The most active presidential candidates were the ruling party’s President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the former Head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), the former Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the Governor of Kano State, Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

With the growth of Internet accessibility5, the on-line media were used as an innovative tool to reach youth electorate. All major presidential candidates had their Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. Since there are no specific regulations about campaign silence for the online media, mobilisation messages on the web and via SMS were sent on election days.

Canvassing in Nigeria can be very expensive. The pre-condition for a presidential can- didate is to campaign in all 36 States and in the FCT. The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) broadcast paid rallies, the longest one, five hours of live transmission was televised on 26 March on the occasion of the final rally of President Jonathan.

Posters were mainly visible in urban areas. Mobile phones and pre-paid cards, and gadgets were distributed during rallies. Local communities were reported to receive from candidates carloads of goods, such as oil and rice, water pumps and gifts in general. The Electoral Act 2010, as amended contains detailed provisions for campaign expenditure. However, INEC admit- ted not to have the capacity to enforce the legal provisions.

Despite the public rejection by the major candidates of the “do or die” election ap- proach, the intense political competition provoked in many instances violent confronta- tions during the election campaign. However, during the Presidential election day violence was not as intense as during previous elections. The authorities appeared to be seriously committed to minimise the escalation of clashes between political rivals.

At the beginning of March, the majority of the political parties signed the INEC Code of Conduct, which regulates a common agreement among the parties regarding rule of law, campaign issues, election day and post election issues, and party finance. The Code is not legally binding.

5 According to Internetworldstats, in December 2009, 16 percent of the Nigerians were online.

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A few days before the Presidential elections, around 40 parties announced publicly their support for the re-election of President Jonathan. One party, the Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) declared its backing to the Presidential ANPP candidate, Ibrahim Sheka- rau. During the same days, CPC and ACN tried to form a coalition in order to secure the votes from the Northern regions, but the tentative failed.

MEDIA ENVIRONMENT Though the legal framework generally respects the freedom of speech, it suffers from in- timidation6 and self-censorship. The Nigerian Union of Journalists is taking a firm stand on this matter by filing petitions7 and raising public awareness.

According to the Electoral Act 2010, media time shall be allocated equally among politi- cal parties and candidates. However, the coverage of the candidates differed according to the media houses.

The state-owned Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) lacked balance towards the candidates. Only 21 parties and their representatives were mentioned dur- ing the NTA prime time. 80 percent of the coverage allocated to the political actors was devoted to PDP, a five percent to ACN and CPC each, and ANPP gained a three percent.

Twelve out of the 20 presidential candidates were mentioned during the NTA prime time. With regard to direct speech in the NTA news bulletins, 75 percent of it was dedicated to the incumbent President Jonathan.

Abuja based state-owned radio Kapital FM provided political parties with more equi- table coverage in the examined period: 57 percent was devoted to PDP, ten percent to the National Transformation

Party (NTP), nine percent to Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP), seven to CPC, six percent to the ACN. However, the proportion of the direct speech in the news on Kapital FM was similar to the one on NTA: 86 percent was assigned for President Jonathan.

A promising, but deficient initiative to broaden political diversity in broadcast media was the presidential and vice-presidential debate organised by the Nigeria Elections Debate Group (NEDG)8. However, since PDP refused to participate in a similar debate conducted by the privately owned TV station NN24, the candidates from ACN, CPC and ANPP ignored the NEDG debate.

While the privately owned broadcasters with nation-wide coverage9 tend to follow a pattern similar to NTA, in the Northern States of the country there were radio stations favouring opposition. The Kano based, privately owned radio station Freedom Radio al- lotted to Muhammadu Buhari around 80 percent of the direct speech given to the presi- dential aspirants during the news. In the SouthWest region the privately owned TV station Channels TV was more balanced: 46 percent of the direct speech in the news was given to President Jonathan, 18 percent to Muhammadu Buhari and ten percent to Ibrahim Shekarau.

Print media targeting urban elites offered a profound analysis and an equitably wide pal- ette of the political discourse. In the last weeks of the campaign, all the major presidential candidates were equitably exposed, although incumbent President received larger cover- age thanks to institutional activities.

“Our peoples’ right to choose who governs them is inalien- able.” February 2010”

6 There were reports of twelve cases involving journalists for being assaulted, arrested and questioned by security forces in nine different States. 7 On 28 March 2011 petition was filed to INEC against Osun State REC, who humiliated “Leader- ship” reporter; another petition on 7 April to the Nasarawa State police on the armed attack on a correspondent in Lafia. 8 For presidential and vice-presidential aspirants from PDP, ACN, ANPP, CPC, MPP, SDMP, UNPD and NTP. 9 African Independent Television and radio Ray Power, both owned by DAAR Communications

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Paid political advertisement in mass media is permitted by the law.

In the print media an awry development was negative campaign advertisements targeting three out of four major presidential aspirants and their political parties. In the broadcast media, despite the law prohibiting political advertisements beyond 60 seconds, telecasting of much longer political rallies were monitored10.

Lack of credible identification of the sponsoring organi- sation, as stipulated in the law, has been a common practice. This downscales the political accountability and transparency of the campaign expenditures, as well as confines INEC’s ability to control compliance of campaign expenses with the limitations stated in the Elec- toral Act 2010.

VOTER EDUCATION INEC carried out a voter education campaign in the print and audio-visual media. Fur- thermore, INEC indicated that direct public outreach activities were decentralised to community level engaging traditional leaders, religious groups and non-governmental organisations (NGO). The messages delivered to the public presented the voting procedures, discouraged violence and urged people to go out and vote. INEC broadcasts its public service announcement (PSA) in English and four local languages11. Additionally, some broadcasters12 took the initiative to produce their own PSA. Voter education programmes were also conducted by the Ministry of Information and the National Orientation Agency, as well as local NGO’s.

PETITIONS AND ELECTORAL OFFENCES The law does not provide specific procedures for the submission and adjudication of pe- titions prior to the elections. These are treated as any other cases in ordinary civil litigation; therefore they were filed with INEC and the Federal, and State High Courts. Following the conduct of the primaries of the political parties, aggrieved aspirants filed approximately 375 petitions directly with INEC13 and more than 400 others in different courts through- out the country.

The vast majority of the preelection cases concerned allegations of illegal substitution of aspirants by the parties. INEC is mandated by the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, to monitor political parties to ensure that all their activities are conducted in a democratic manner.

However, with the 2010 amendments, INEC does no longer have the power to disqualify candidates, so the aggrieved parties ultimately may seek legal redress at the courts.

The absence of time limits for the resolution of electoral disputes by the courts before the election days delayed legal redress during a time-sensitive period and made it difficult for INEC to keep pace with the barrage of ex-parte orders14 and judgments to which it was a defendant. Overall, the courts functioned in a transparent manner and demonstrated a considerable degree of impartiality in upholding the constitutional and legal framework with regard to elections, issuing a number of judgments in accordance with procedures and with a generally sound evidentiary and legal basis.

“Our elections must enjoy the indelible mark of credibility and acceptability both nationally and internationally.” FEb 2010

10 During the time of observation NTA broadcasted six PDP, three ACN, two CPC and one ANNP rally. The longest live transmission of Jonathan final rally lasted five hours and was broadcast on NTA and AIT on 26 March 2011. 11 Pidgin English, Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo. 12 NTA, Freedom Radio and radio Ray Power. 13 The complaints submitted to INEC involved: disqualification, ex-convicts contesting contrary to the law, parties forwarded names of candidates who did not contest any primaries, exclusion of names after winning the primaries, no primaries held yet parties forwarded fictitious names, illegal nullification of primaries’ results, wrongful publication of names, wrongful imposition of names, forced letters of withdrawal. 14 An ex-parte order is an order granted by a court upon the application of one party in an action without notice to the other party.

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So far, the courts have been making commendable efforts to timely adjudicate the volume of petitions filed at the pre-election period.

Nevertheless, the lack of deadlines for filing, consideration and determination of complaints prior to polling trailed the results of the primaries15, producing a large number of judgments delivered by the courts only a few days before the polls16. The persistent court litigation poses a considerable challenge, while the number of still pending petitions is negatively contributing to the voters’ awareness over the electoral contestants.

In a notable case, an Abuja Federal High Court ruled on 3 March, on a petition submit- ted by the Labour Party (LP), that Section 25(1) of the Electoral Act 2010 is illegal and unconstitutional, and subsequently nullified the National Assembly’s amendment of the Act, which places the Presidential election before the gubernatorial elections. The Court ruled that the National Assembly lacks the mandate to determine the order of the elections and that INEC is the only body empowered to schedule the elections in the order it deems fit. Subsequently, INEC announced on 18 March that it was too late to alter the sequence of the polling. In the run-up to the polls, much legal and public attention was drawn to the tenure elongation case of the Governors of five States17, whose tenure, according to a judgment of an Abuja Federal High Court, only began after they won the run-off in their States, so it should not be terminated in April 2011. INEC appealed on 9 March, requesting the Court of Appeal to upturn the lower court’s verdict. The appellate court delivered its judgment on 15 April, upholding the lower court’s ruling and dismissing INEC’s appeal on lack of merit.

ordered that Gubernatorial election must be conducted in the State.

The Court rejected the Governor’s argument that his tenure should start counting from 10 January 2011, when he was sworn in after winning the re-run Governorship elections.

A controversial case concerned the Akwa Ibom State ACN Governorship candidate, Senator Akpan Udoedehe, who was rearrested on 31 March immediately after an Abuja Federal High Court granted him bail, following his initial arraignment for treason. On 5 April he was brought before a Magistrates’ Court in Uyo for alleged murder and arson even though the Court lacked the jurisdiction to hear such case. An Abuja Federal High Court issued on 6 April a mandatory order directing the police to release him uncondi- tionally from custody. However, a few hours after the Abuja Federal High Court granted the order releasing him, the Uyo Chief Magistrates’ Court passed a conflicting judgment remanding Udoedehe in prison custody for 14 days; it is notable that the law that empow- ered the Magistrates’ Court to remand him for 14 days was passed by the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly on 31 March, while the offence he was charged with was alleg- edly committed on 22 March, nine days before the new law was passed18. Udoedehe was finally released on 8 April.

In another judgment also examining tenure elongation, a Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State, ruled on 15 March that the tenure of the Governor will end on 29 May 2011 and subsequently,

The government and the institutions of government must at all time stand by the people and must at all cost resist the temptation to pervert the will of the people.” April 29, 2010.

The Federal High Court in Kogi State ruled on 4 April 2011 for a fresh primary to select the PDP candidate for the West- ern Senatorial District, invalidating the primaries held on 28 January 2011, which produced Senator Adeyemi. The new primary was held only one day before the polls, on 8 April, and Senator Adeyemi won the PDP ticket.

16 For instance, in regards to the National Assembly elections, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, declared on 8 April Alhaji Usman as the PDP candidate for Kogi Central Senatorial District in 9 April’s elections, affirming the decision of an Abuja Federal High Court. In Taraba State, a Federal High Court in Yola affirmed on 1 April, Alil Tutare as the PDP sena- torial candidate for Taraba Central Senatorial District and El-Sudi as the House of Representatives candidate for Gassol constituency in the National Assembly elections. In Sokoto, a Federal High Court declared on 7 April Halima Tukur as the lawful PDP candidate for Yauri/Shanga/Ngaski Federal constituency of Kebbi State in the National Assembly elections.

17 Kogi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Cross Rivers and Bayelsa States.

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Following the publicly expressed commitment of INEC’s Chairman to the prosecution of electoral offences, two persons found guilty of multiple registration in Adamawa State were sentenced to imprisonment, while the REC’s in Rivers19 and Bauchi20 States an- nounced that they would prosecute those involved in multiple registration. From media reports, several arrests took place after the National Assembly elections for electoral mal- practices in a large number of States21.

Until 15 April, apparently no petitions contesting the National Assembly Elections were filed with the Election Tribunals; however, separate complaints alleging serious irregu- larities in Taraba State were submitted to INEC by CPC and ACN, while ACN also filed complaints with the REC on electoral malpractices, requesting invalidation of results in various LGA’s in Benue and Jigawa States, and DPP contested the results in two wards in Delta State through a complaint to the REC.

HUMAN RIGHTS AND GENDER ISSUES

Nigeria has an active civil society, which plays an important role in monitoring human rights. The enactment of the Amendment Bill to the National Human Rights Commission Act, which provides for an independence of this body22, was noted as a significant step towards strengthening the protection of human rights. However, respect for fundamental rights still remains insufficient. Several acts of political violence and intimidation of can- didates were reported throughout the electoral period. Instances of disenfranchisement of voters were also observed, notably omissions in the voters’ register and lack of provisions enabling polling workers to vote.

Despite a general commitment to the principle of non-discrimination enshrined in the Constitution and various activities to promote gender equality, women remained under- represented in public and political life. The National Gender Policy aimed at providing 35 percent affirmative action for women for appointive positions has not been implemented In general, female candidates faced economic and social constraints to be nominated by parties. They lacked financial resources to equally compete with men. In the primaries, some women candidates experienced intimidation and pressure to step down in favour of male candidates. Only one presidential candidate and nine per cent of the candidates for the National Assembly contested in the polls. Female candidates were also victims of threats and physical violence. The largest number of violent incidents took place during political campaigns or rallies. The perpetrators were identified as primarily party supporters or agents.

“In the next election, there will be no cheating,” he told a United States delegation led by the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, at the State House, Abuja in May last year, stressing that, “every vote must count.”

The law empowers the governor to detain anybody for up to 14 days, in the first instance. The detention is also renew- able. The House of Assembly passed the bill on 31 March; however the legislators declined to give it retroactive effect till January as requested by the Executive bill. 19 In Rivers State, INEC’s REC stated on 23 March that the 48,000 persons involved in multiple registrations have been blacklisted and will be prosecuted after the elections. 20 The REC of Bauchi State threatened to prosecute more than 7,000 people discovered to have registered twice in the State, saying on 15 March that those involve would be arrested when found and would be made to pay a fine or spend two years in prison, or both. 21 It was reported in the news that several people were arraigned in Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Bauchi, Borno, Benin, Benue, Edo, Enugu, Jigawa Oyo, Ogun and Sokoto States. 22 The National Human Rights Commission (Amended) Bill 2010 was signed by the President Jonathan on 25 February 2011. It provides for inter alia: the independence in the conduct of the affairs of the Commissions, the funds to be direct charged on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, establishment of the Human Rights Fund, and recognition of an enforcement of the awards and recommendations of the Commission as decisions of the High Court.

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CIVIL SOCIETY AND ELECTION OBSERVATION Civil Society Organisations (CSO) were engaged in a positive dialogue with INEC. They played an important role in promoting an orderly electoral process. CSO’s brought to public attention among other issues, the timely address of logistical challenges, the need for civic education on voting procedures and the establishment of INEC Election Day hotlines.

Worth mentioning is the Election Situation Room, its main concerns being the perfor- mance of the law enforcement agencies and political parties, and the role of the judiciary in the electoral process; the CSO Working Party Groups, identifying security hotspots ahead of the polls and called on political parties to condemn violence; the 2011 Swift Count with real-time information on the conduct of the polls; the National Elections Inci- dent Centre (NEIC) with an Internet based map on incidents24. A number of State based and regional CSO’s were noted to observe the electoral process throughout the country. The EU EOM regrets that on 16 April several domestic observers were arrested and the mission encourages the authorities to do everything in order that any similar occurrence is prevented in the future.

By 23 March, INEC published a list of the accredited organisations, 313 in total, which intended to observe the elections and the deadline to submit the individual accreditations was set for two days later. Respecting this tight schedule was a serious challenge and criti- cism was voiced over INEC’s poor capacity to timely organise

the accreditation process. In addition to the EU EOM, there were other international observation groups deriving from the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Commonwealth, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).

ACCREDITATION, VOTING, COUNTING AND COLLATION

For the Presidential elections, the EU EOM observers visited in total 633 polling units in all 36 States and the FCT covering both urban and rural areas. The observation indicated that the Presidential elections held on 16 April were conducted in a generally calm and peaceful atmosphere. Voters demonstrated genuine commitment and patience, having to queue throughout the morning accreditation process and once again during the afternoon voting. INEC’s logistical preparations substantially improved since the National Assembly elections and only a limited number of polling units opened late due to a shortage of es- sential material or absence of polling staff. Similarly, the set-up of polling units was gener- ally improved and positively rated for an efficient flow of voters. Only 14 percent of the observed polling units were split into the so-called voting points, even though the average number of voters in the visited polling unit was 860, which is in contradiction to the objectives declared by INEC.

23 Preliminary statement of a coalition of civil society in Nigeria with support of UN Women and UNDP/DGD on Violence Against Women in Politics (VAWiP) issued on 1 April. 24 So far the incidents from the registration period are displayed on http://nigeriawatch2011.org/. The 2011 Swift Count and NEIC are National Democratic Institute (NDI) supported projects.

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Women were well represented among the polling workers: in total 40 percent of the staff and 36 percent of the presiding officers were female. However, the proportion of women was substantially lower among collation officers. Party agents were present in 96 percent and domestic observers in 35 per cent of the sampled Polling Units.

The presence of voters on the voters’ register was generally well checked: their names ticked off in the register and fingers marked. However, in a few polling units, voters were allowed to be accredited either without being on the voters’ register or holding their vot- ers’ cards.

While the shift from accreditation to voting was smooth and carried out in a timely manner, shortcomings were noted during voting. In 17 percent of the sampled polling units, attempts to influence voters were observed; in 26 percent there were instances of interference by party agents in the process and in 47 percent the secrecy of vote was not respected. General lack of organisation was noticed in 19 percent. These figures indicate deterioration since the National Assembly elections. The share of underage voting re- mained constant in both elections at 12 percent, while in a few cases serious malpractices, such as double voting and ballot snatching were observed.

The observed polling units closed on average around 16:00 hours, leaving time for the counting to be conducted during daylight. In a sixth of the observed polling units, the unused ballots were not properly accounted for and their number was not recorded. The copies of the results were in general distributed to all party agents

and the official results were posted outside the polling unit in 87 percent of the cases, which is a remarkable im- provement over the National Assembly elections (when the procedure had been followed in only 54 percent). Nevertheless, the results forms were packed in tamper-proof envelopes only in two-thirds of the observed polling units. In spite of some procedural deficiencies, counting was overall evaluated positively in 91 per cent.

Arithmetic errors were noted in 70 percent of the visited ward collation centres and in 87 percent of the observed LGA collation centres. This demonstrated insufficient training of the Collation Officers. The results were posted outside the ward collation centres only in 49 percent, which is still a tangible improvement compared to the 9 April elections. However, at the LGA level results were posted outside only in 35 per cent of the cases. This had a clear negative impact on the transparency of the election process. It is commendable that the final stage of the collation of the Presidential results and its announcement was broadcast live on NTA and AIT. The EU EOM wishes to express its appreciation to the authorities of Nigeria. The EU EOM is also grateful to the EU Delegation in Abuja for their support during the course of the mission.

European Union Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2011 Rockview Hotel Classic Phone +234 (0) 806 165 4200 www.eueom-nigeria.eu 

“As regards the elections, we all are happy that despite some setbacks that were witnessed generally, Nigerians are happy that at least, they can decide who will represent them at the National Assembly or who will govern them in the presidential, governorship and state house of assembly elections that are still ahead. That has given us hope. And of course we have even improved.”

April 11, 2011.

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Nigerian Elections Hold The Promise Of Setting New Integrity Standard, Ndi Mission Finds

ABUJA, NIGERIA – Nigeria’s just-completed presidential and National Assembly elec- tions “represent a step forward from seriously flawed elections of the past” and “hold the promise of setting a new standard for integrity in Nigeria’s electoral process,” the National Democratic Institute (NDI) said here today.

Noting the commitment and dedication of Nigerian voters who faced long lines and high temperatures to cast their presidential ballots on April 16, NDI said the polls appear to mark a turning point for Africa’s most populous country.

But the Institute also cited a number of important problems that need to be addressed before the upcoming state elections April 26 and in the longer term. The delegation’s report contains both shortand long-term recommendations for improvements.

“Continued vigilance is still needed through the completion of the 2011 election pro- cess to realize the promise of these polls,” NDI said. The Institute cautioned that its find- ings were preliminary, noting that serious irregularities can emerge later in the process.

The leaders of NDI’s observation mission to the presidential election were Joe Clark, former prime minister of Canada; Mahamane Ousmane, former president of Niger and former president of the ECOWAS Parliament; Robin Carnahan, secretary of state of Missouri (USA); and Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa.

They headed a delegation of 30 observers from 14 countries who were deployed in all six of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones to observe the presidential voting. NDI fielded a larger observation mission for National Assembly elections on April 9. That delegation issued a preliminary statement April 11 that said those polls provided a real opportunity for citi- zens to exercise their right to vote while pointing out substantial problems.

For the presidential election, NDI specifically singled out the “effective and committed leadership” of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which it said was a key factor in the improvement over previous polls. “The delegation commends efforts

by INEC staff at all levels to improve transparency and credibility,” the statement said. It also recognized the actions of political parties and their supporters, security forc- es, citizen election observers and other civil society organizations, and voters themselves that contributed to the integrity of the two April polls.

National Democratic Institute for international affairs

Observers also applauded the” dedication and neutrality” of polling station staff, most of whom were National Youth Service Corps members. “These staff showed initiative and increased confidence in addressing challenges that arose on election day,” NDI said.

“Millions of Nigerian citizens met their civic responsibility with great enthusiasm and perseverance through their presence in polling stations across the country on election day,” the report said. “The delegation applauds this dedication and encourages continued engagement by citizens in upcoming elections and other political processes.”

But problems remained, such as overwhelming crowds in some places that interfered with voting, intimidation and harassment of some domestic election observers, and a cumbersome, multi-tiered process for collating election returns. “The responsibility to combat negative practices, such as vote buying, electoral malfeasance, intimidation and violence, rests not only with INEC, but with all sectors of Nigerian society,” the statement said.

The delegation noted that INEC acted swiftly in the week between the April 9 and April 16 elections to address shortcomings in the electoral process, and it recommended that the following actions be taken by INEC, political parties and security services before Nigerians next go to the polls April 26 to elect governors and members of state assem- blies: Splitallpollingplaceswithover500votersintosubunitstoimproveefficiencyand access to the process; Standardize implementation of procedures in all states and local government areas; Ensure security, sufficient staff and adequate facilities for collation centers; Follow through and prosecute electoral offenders; Respond to increasing needs for better crowd control in ways

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that neither intimidate voters nor compromise the secrecy of their ballots in cooperation with polling station staff; Protect the rights of INEC-accredited citizen observers, including their right to move freely on election day and to access all aspects of the process; Rigorously follow and abide by provisions of the Code of Conduct prohibiting acts of violence, intimidation of voters and other violations of the Electoral Act; Refrain from extrajudicial and violent rejection of election results and use peaceful, legal means to resolve electoral disputes; and Submit names of agents assigned to represent parties at each polling unit.

NDI’s mission also builds on a pre-election assessment that NDI conducted in October. The Institute’s election observation mission in Nigeria is funded through a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

NDI has been working in Nigeria since 1999 and has fielded international observa- tion missions to previous elections there in 1999, 2003 and 2007. The Institute also is conducting other election support activities with the support of USAID and the United Kingdom Department for International Development. These include a program to help Nigerian civic groups train and deploy thousands of domestic election observers. This effort includes Project 2011 Swift Count, an initiative in which observers conducted a parallel vote tabulation (PVT).

The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan nongovernmental orga- nization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government. More information is available at www.ndi.org.

“Neither our ambition nor that of any other aspirant is worth your blood. Therefore, say no to violence.

You must vote and protect your vote. You don’t have to kill to protect your vote; all you need to do is follow INEC guidelines, vote and wait at the polling station for the votes to be counted and the results declared in the presence of your agents.” March 7, 2011; Uyo.

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what they said... flashback

Statement Of The National Democratic Institute’s International Election Observer Mission To Nigeria’s April 16 Presidential Election Abuja, April 18, 2011 This preliminary statement is offered by the National Democratic Institute‘s (NDI) election observer delegation to Nigeria‘s April 16, 2011, presidential election. The 30- member delegation from 14 countries was co-led by: Joe Clark, former prime minister of Canada; Mahamane Ousmane, former president of Niger and former speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament; Robin Carnahan, secretary of state of Missouri (USA); and Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa.

Through this delegation, NDI seeks to express the international community‘s in- terest in – and support for – a democratic electoral process in Nigeria, to provide an ac- curate and impartial report on the character of the election process to date and to offer recommendations to improve future electoral processes.

The delegation arrived in Nigeria on April 4, prior to the National Assembly elections, and remained in country until April 18. As part of NDI‘s comprehensive election obser- vation mission, the delegation builds upon the findings of NDI‘s pre-election delegation conducted in October of 2010, and the reports of 12 NDI longterm observers, who, since January, have witnessed pre-election preparations, including voter registration and the campaign period.

Members of the delegation also observed the April 9 National Assembly elections and concluded, in an April 11 statement, that despite a number of significant problems, those elections represented a break from Nigeria‘s electoral past and provided a real opportunity for citizens to exercise their right to vote. During the presidential election, delegates observed over 153 polling units in 61 local government areas (LGAs) across 11 states in all six geopolitical zones and in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The delegation conducted its activities in accordance with Nigerian law and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.

The delegation would like to stress that it does not intend to render a final judgment on the April 16 presidential election at this time and that this statement is preliminary in nature. The tabulation and announcement of final results, as well as acceptance of results by candidates, have not been completed. As this has been a phase of the process during which serious irregularities have emerged in the past, the delegation urges candidates and their supporters to utilize peaceful, legal means to resolve election-related complaints.

The Institute does not seek to interfere in the electoral process

National Democratic Institute for international affairs

and recognizes that it is the Nigerian people who will ultimately determine the credibility and legitimacy of their elections.

I. KEY FINDINGS As was the case with the National Assembly elections, this presidential poll represents a step forward from seriously flawed elections in the past. Nigerian citizens demonstrated commitment and dedication as they turned out to vote in elections that hold the promise of setting a new standard for integrity in Nigeria‘s electoral process. The presidential election was the second in a series that appears to mark a turning point for Africa‘s most populous country.

At the same time, the April 16 poll, like those on April 9, revealed important problems that need to be addressed before the upcoming state elections and in the longer term. Continued vigilance is still needed through the completion of the 2011 election process to realize the promise of these polls.

Effective and committed leadership at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is a key factor in the improvement over previous polls. However, democratic elections are not simply a technical exercise and their success does not rest with the electoral authority alone. While the election commission is charged with providing an effec- tive and neutral setting for voting, the actions of political parties and their supporters, security forces, citizen election observers and other civil society organizations and voters themselves significantly impact the integrity of the electoral process.

Each of these actors contributed to the improvements of the April 9 and 16 polls, while each faces challenges to maintaining electoral integrity.

Millions of Nigerian citizens met their civic responsibility with great enthusiasm and perseverance through their presence in polling stations across the country on election day. The delegation applauds this dedication and encourages continued engagement by citizens and their organizations in upcoming elections and other political

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processes. We encourage parties and their supporters to abide by the provisions of the Code of Con- duct they signed to foster Nigeria‘s efforts to deepen and strengthen its democracy. The responsibility to combat negative practices, such as vote buying, electoral malfeasance, intimidation and violence, rests not only with INEC, but with all sectors of Nigerian society.

The delegation recognizes the innovative and cost-effective use of new media in these elections by INEC, political parties, security forces, citizen observers and voters them- selves. Websites, social networking, SMS messaging and other technology tools aided in the collection, analysis and dissemination of information about the election process.

The delegation commends efforts by INEC staff at all levels to improve transparen- cy and credibility. In the very short time after the April 9 National Assembly elections, INEC:

sites, some domestic observers faced intimidation and harassment.

There were credible reports of observers kidnapped by thugs‘ and detained by security forces. In Asaba, Delta state, six domestic observers and one NDI international advisor were held overnight at a police station with- out charge.

On election day, two separate explosions struck Borno state. Two bombings occurred in Kaduna and a shooting in Jos left one person dead. Tensions between party supporters led to serious incidents of violence after the close of the polls. Mob violence broke out in a number of states where party supporters damaged property and physically harmed and killed members of opposing parties or INEC officials. The delegation notes with grave concern multiple incidents of violence in the post-election period that have resulted in loss of life and destruction of property.

Short-Term Recommendations

Improved considerably on the distribution of polling materials and registered fewer incidents of delayed materials;

In preparation for the April 26 elections, the delegation recommends the follow ac- tions:

Re-trained polling station staff on voting procedures, including measures to increase ballot secrecy and post polling station results; and

Split all polling places with over 500 voters into sub-units to improve efficiency and access to the process;

Made efforts to amend the voter register to include voters who had been wrongly excluded before.

Observers applauded the dedication and neutrality of polling station staff, most of whom were National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members. These staff showed initia- tive and increased confidence in addressing challenges that arose on election day.

The delegation also acknowledges the role of security services, which in the majority of polling stations observed played a positive, low-profile and professional role.

Obviously in a country so complex, problems remain. Overwhelming crowds influ- enced some polling officials to relax procedures intended to safeguard the voting process, and the crush of people may have prevented some eligible voters from participating in the election. While INEC instructed presiding officers to assign no more than 300 voters to a polling site, NDI observers visited locations that had over 1,000 registered voters. Ob- servers visited two polling sites in Nassarawa state with over 3,800 and 6,000 registered voters, respectively. In addition, observers heard reports of wide state-by-state variance in the number of invalidated ballots that, if true, is an area of concern.

The delegation noted the complicated and multi-tiered collation process that is vulner- able both to human error and malfeasance as tabulation proceeds from the polling unit to INEC headquarters.

Despite efforts in this election to fast-track election returns, this process created added work for INEC officials and observers.

Though international observers were received warmly at polling

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Standardize implementation of procedures in all states and local government areas; Ensure security, sufficient staff and adequate facilities for collation centers; and Follow through in prosecuting electoral offenders.

Recognizing the collaborative role that security officials have played in the improved electoral environ- ment thus far, the delegation recommends that security services: Respond to increasing needs for better crowd control in ways that neither intimidate voters nor compromise the secrecy of their ballots, in cooperation with polling station staff; and Protect the rights of INEC-accredited citizen observers, including their right to move freely on election day and to access all aspects of the process.

As the aggregators of citizen interests and opinions, political parties play an important role in consolidating democratic practices. Given heightened competition for elective office at the state level, the delegation recommends that political parties: Rigorously follow and abide by provisions of the Code of Conduct prohibiting acts of violence, intimidation of voters and other violations of the Electoral Act; Refrain from extrajudicial and violent rejection of election results and use peaceful, legal means to resolve electoral disputes; and Submit names of agents assigned to represent parties at each polling unit.

flashback

I. ELECTION DAY OBSERVATIONS Election Administration The delegation noted higher voter turnout than for the National Assembly elections in polling sites observed, and was impressed by the dedication and neutrality of polling sta- tion staff, primarily comprising NYSC members. Election officials showed initiative and exhibited increased confidence in addressing challenges that arose on election day.

Essential materials, including ballots and results sheets, were present in all polling sta- tions observed, and most stations opened on time. The impact of refresher trainings quickly ordered by INEC was apparent—with many polling staff, for example, making renewed efforts to post polling station-level results.

In response to voter register omissions that emerged during the April 9 elections, INEC took positive steps to enfranchise more eligible voters, by providing updated voter regis- ters or, in a few cases, addenda to polling staff.

The delegation noted a lack of uniformity among different states and localities in im- plementing INEC directives issued just days before the election, as well as an inconsistent application of prescribed procedures, especially regarding changes to the voter register.

Secrecy of the ballot continued to be a problem in many sites, where poor station set-up, lack of privacy screens or improper instructions to voters on folding ballots was observed. In one extreme case witnessed by delegates, voters were displaying their ballots to party agents before placing them in the ballot box.

Overcrowding was observed in many stations, creating a challenge for polling staff and security officials alike. Although INEC increased the number of staff in some stations, most units observed did not have sufficient staff or equipment to create or efficiently manage polling sub-units, even though some polling stations were assigned thousands of voters. While most polling staff and officials employed cooperative and creative measures to ensure order within stations observed by NDI, some were unable to maintain sufficient organization of the process. In these problematic stations, procedures developed by INEC to prevent fraud, including distinct accreditation and voting periods and double inking, were set aside – often at the request of voters – to expedite the congested process.

Delegates in some locations witnessed serious incidents including underage voting, campaigning, intimidation and indications of vote buying. While these incidents were limited and most polling station officials attempted to mitigate them, observers noted that the local voting communities in some areas encouraged these violations.

While some collation centers were well organized, transparent

and adequately staffed, others lacked basic necessities including sufficient space and electricity. In some locations, observers witnessed large crowds – mostly comprising male youths – that were unruly and sometimes violent, threatening the quality of the process.

Political Parties and their Agents Observers saw a number of party agents on election day and, despite isolated incidents of undue voter influence, most contributed positively to the process by cooperating with polling station staff and security officials to maintain order in polling stations. Despite requests by INEC, most political parties did not provide the names of those agents who would represent that party at specific polling units on election day, limiting the ability of polling staff to enforce order in the station and increasing the likelihood of impersonation of party agents by those wishing to disrupt the process.

Citizen Election Observation The delegation notes the diligent efforts of tens of thousands nonpartisan citizen elec- tion observers, including the systematic observation activities of Project 2011 Swift Count, present on election day. It is troubling that a number of accredited citizen observers were intimidated and harassed. Some were prevented from completing their duties when they were not allowed to enter polling locations or to travel between polling sites. A number of observers were reportedly kidnapped by thugs and detained by police. In Asaba, Delta state, six domestic observers and one NDI international advisor were held overnight at a police station. The delegation strongly condemns the restriction of observers‘ rights and all threats to their safety and freedom, whether by criminals or officials.

Security Officials Security forces deployed to polling stations throughout the country to maintain order in polling stations and prevent incidents of violence throughout election day. While the delegation found them to be present in most stations, their numbers in some stations were insufficient – particularly in rural areas. Most security officials demonstrated restraint and professionalism, although the delegation heard isolated but concerning reports of mistreatment and unnecessary use of force.

Electoral Violence On election day, two separate explosions struck Borno state; there were also two bomb- ings in Kaduna and a shooting in Jos that left at least one person dead. Tensions between party supporters led to serious incidents of violence after the close of the polls. Mob violence broke out in a number of states and resulted in at least 12 deaths, many injured and destroyed or damaged property.

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II. THE ELECTORAL CONTEXT Since Nigeria‘s return to civilian rule in 1999, the country has struggled to hold credible democratic elections. The 2007 elections were especially flawed, prompting over 1200 petitions that ultimately led to the overturning of several gubernatorial and legislative races by the courts.

Soon after assuming office in May 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan appointed Pro- fessor Attahiru Jega – a widely respected member of civil society – as INEC chairman. In planning for the April 2011 elections, INEC reintroduced the modified open secret ballot, or accreditation voting, a system that requires voters to remain at polling units for long periods of time. Many Nigerians believe that this vote and wait effort limits fraud and the manipulation of results.

Although 20 individuals declared candidacies for president, only four candidates had national name recognition: Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mal- lam Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigeria People‘s Party (ANPP), Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), and President Jonathan for the People‘s Democratic Party (PDP). In the week of the election, six of the 20 presidential candidates withdrew from the race and invited their supporters to vote for President Jonathan. A seventh left the race in favor of Gov. Shekarau. Since the official deadline for candidate withdrawal expired in February, all parties remained on the ballot.

Legal Framework While a number of positive legal reforms were passed in the lead up to the April 2011 elections, the late timeline for their adoption led to confusion among political parties, election observers and the public.

At one point, multiple versions of the law were in circulation. It took the intervention of the Nigeria‘s Attorney General in March 2011 to confirm the final version.

Voter Registration In early 2011, INEC conducted an electronic voter registration exercise in an attempt to replace the widely discredited list from 2007. Problems in the process led to incomplete or inaccurate registrations of many voters, a number of whom were asked to re-register. Few citizens were able to verify they were registered, as procedures for review were not uniformly followed. INEC removed more than 870,000 duplicate entries, leaving 73.5 million voters on the list. On April 9, many eligible voters were turned away because their names were not on the register. Before the April 16 polls, INEC worked to update voter registers or create addenda of eligible voters omitted from the list.

The Campaign Many presidential campaigns made a special effort to garner grassroots support, con- ducting door-to-door outreach and working with women‘s and other community groups. Two televised debates

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were organized for presidential candidates, but none involved all candidates. President Jonathan did not attend the first, and opposition parties refused to attend the second.

The National Assembly Elections The National Assembly elections, held on April 9, marked a break from the failed elec- tions of Nigeria‘s past. Citizen awareness, increased confidence in electoral authorities and engagement by parties and civil society contributed to a more credible election pro- cess. However, shortcomings included logistical problems, uneven performance by poll workers and violence in some places of the country on election day. Following the April 9 polls, INEC reported over 100 arrests of individuals – including potential voters and security personnel, election and government officials – for offenses ranging from electoral violence and voter intimidation, to vote-buying and diversion of sensitive election materi- als. The commission also confirmed 39 deaths immediately related to election day. This included the bombing of INEC‘s state office in Suleja where 16 individuals, including INEC staff, were killed.

Technology and New Media As statistics confirmed that the number of Nigerians utilizing the internet substantially increased since 2007, parties, civil society, INEC and other government bodies utilized technology and new media to reach citizens, spread messages and gather information.

Political parties used websites, social networking and SMS messaging to share informa- tion about their platforms and to organize their supporters. Citizen election monitors or- ganized incident reporting and mapping to encourage citizens to share their experiences through online submissions and SMS messaging. INEC and security officials set up SMS hotlines to collect information and coordinate responses to incidents on election day.

Security Preparations Between the National Assembly and presidential elections, INEC and the security ser- vices worked to further harmonize their respective responsibilities and mitigate violence in the election process. At the national, state and local levels, election and security offi- cials coordinated efforts. They also shared information openly with parties and observers on steps taken to guarantee peaceful and credible elections. Civil society organizations conducted civic education programs aimed at raising the awareness of politicians and citizens in general on the need for peaceful and credible elections.

Election-Related Violence Over 135 deaths have been attributed to politically-motivated violence with several hundred others injured during the primaries, campaign and election period. Through the election period, NDI received reports of intimidation of candidates and their supporters, open brawls between supporters of different parties and candidates, kidnappings of candidates and their family members, shootings, assassination of candidates and bombings of innocent civilians.

flashback

III. LONG-TERM RECOMMENDATIONS In light of the steps Nigeria has already taken to embrace electoral reform and in the spirit of international cooperation, the delegation proposes additional recommendations to help strengthen the electoral framework in the medium to long term. The effective implementation of these recommendations requires a strong commitment by the gov- ernment and INEC, with support from civil society and political parties. An important guide to improving the process would be the Uwais Report,prepared by the Electoral Reform Committee, chaired by former Chief Justice Mohammadu Uwais. The govern- ment, INEC, parties, civil society and others should continue to advance the reforms recommended by the Committee.

For the Government: Finalize the legal framework at least six months before the election, as stipulated by Article 2.1 of the ECOWAS Protocol for Democracy and Good Governance; Establish an Electoral Offenses Commission and clear guidelines for the manage- ment of electoral complaints and litigation; Create a Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission so that INEC can focus on election administration and avoid potential contention with political parties; Strengthen INEC‘s authority over state-level Resident Electoral Commissioners; Consider ways to enfranchise Nigerians who work on election day – including poll station staff, security officials, party agents, and citizen observers – as well as other citizens unable to participate due to immobility; Create a Constituency Delimitation Commission with direct responsibility for reallocating wards and registration areas based on population changes; and Consider reforms to strengthen and enforce comprehensive political party finance laws.

For INEC:

Develop comprehensive and consistent training programs for permanent and ad hoc INEC staff at all levels; Review performance during the 2011 elections to consolidate best practices; Address weaknesses in the voter register and adopt procedures for continuous voter registration as stipulated by the Electoral Act; Design a clear, effective and timely accreditation process to encourage the continued engagement of civil society and the international community in observing elections; Take longer-term action to plan for an equitable allocation of polling units based on voter registration figures, as the Electoral Act and Constitution provide; Develop voting mechanisms that will reduce the incidence of invalidated ballots; and Build institutional expertise by incorporating now-experienced NYSC ad hoc poll workers as future trainers and INEC staff.

For political parties: Adopt transparent candidate selection, campaign and party finance processes in compliance with the 2010 Electoral Act; Participate actively in the Inter Party Advisory Committee to promote dialogue and adherence to the Code of Conduct; and Support and promote female participation in party leadership at national and state levels, during the candidate selection process and as candidates.

For Civil Society: Build on the accomplishments of the 2011 elections to strengthen involvement in the political process; Continue to advocate for electoral reforms; and Enhance collaboration and cooperation on citizen participation in elections.

“Our elections must enjoy the indelible mark of credibility and acceptability both nationally and internationally.” February, 2010.

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IV. ABOUT THE MISSION An accurate and complete assessment of any election must take into account all aspects of the process, and no election can be viewed in isolation from the political context in which it takes place. Among the factors that must be considered are: the legal framework for the elections set by the constitution, electoral and related laws; the ability of citizens to seek and receive sufficient and accurate information upon which to make political choic- es; the ability of political competitors to organize and reach out to citizens in order to win their support; the conduct of the mass media in providing coverage of parties, candidates and issues; the freedom that citizens and political competitors have to engage in the po- litical and electoral process without fear of intimidation, violence or retribution for their choices; the conduct of the voter registration process and integrity of the voter register; the voting, counting, results tabulation, transmission and announcement processes; and the handling of election complaints and installation to office of those duly elected.

NDI fielded a 50-member delegation to the April 9 polls that included all of the pres- ent delegation members except one, and issued an April 11 statement that can be found at www.ndi. org. NDI‘s long-term observers will remain in Nigeria to observe upcoming gubernatorial, state assembly and delayed legislative elections. The Institute will continue to monitor the electoral process and issue reports at appropriate times.

NDI conducts its election observation in accordance with the Declaration of Prin- ciples for International Election Observation, which is endorsed by 36 intergovernmen- tal and non-governmental organizations. These include the United Nations Secretariat, the African Union, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, the Francophonie, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union, the International Republican Institute and NDI. NDI has organized more than 150 delegations to assess preelection, election-day and post-election processes around the globe in every region in the world. NDI has observed elections in Nigeria in 1998, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

The delegation is grateful for the welcome and cooperation it received from voters, election officials, candidates, domestic election observers and civic activists. NDI has been officially accredited to conduct an international election observation mission by INEC. NDI‘s international election observation mission in Nigeria is funded by a grant from the United States Agency for International Development.

“In the next election, there will be no cheating,” he told a United States delegation led by the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, Maria Otero, at the State House, Abuja in May last year, stressing that, “every vote must count.”

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flashback

Statement by the President Barack Obama on Nigeria’s Elections May 4, 2011 This preliminary statement is offered by the National Democratic Institute‘s (NDI) election observer delegation to Nigeria‘s April 16, 2011, presidential election. The 30- member delegation from 14 countries was co-led by: Joe Clark, former prime minister of Canada; Mahamane Ousmane, former president of Niger and former speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament; Robin Carnahan, secretary of state of Missouri (USA); and Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa.

Through this delegation, NDI seeks to express the international community‘s in- terest in – and support for – a democratic electoral process in Nigeria, to provide an ac- curate and impartial report on the character of the election process to date and to offer recommendations to improve future electoral processes.

The delegation arrived in Nigeria on April 4, prior to the National Assembly elections, and remained in country until April 18. As part of NDI‘s comprehensive election obser- vation mission, the delegation builds upon the findings of NDI‘s pre-election delegation conducted in October of 2010, and the reports of 12 NDI longterm observers, who, since January, have witnessed pre-election preparations, including voter registration and the campaign period.

Members of the delegation also observed the April 9 National Assembly elections and concluded, in an April 11 statement, that despite a number of significant problems, those elections represented a break from Nigeria‘s electoral past and provided a real opportunity for citizens to exercise their right to vote. During the presidential election, delegates observed over 153 polling units in 61 local government areas (LGAs) across 11 states in all six geopolitical zones and in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The delegation conducted its activities in accordance with Nigerian law and the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.

The delegation would like to stress that it does not intend to render a final judgment on the April 16 presidential election at this time and that this statement is preliminary in nature. The tabulation and announcement of final results, as well as acceptance of results by candidates, have not been completed. As this has been a phase of the process during which serious irregularities have emerged in the past, the delegation urges candidates and their supporters to utilize peaceful, legal means to resolve election-related complaints.

The Institute does not seek to interfere in the electoral process and recognizes that it is the Nigerian people who will ultimately determine the credibility and legitimacy of their elections.

United states diplomatic mission to nigeria, public affairs section

I. KEY FINDINGS As was the case with the National Assembly elections, this presidential poll represents a step forward from seriously flawed elections in the past. Nigerian citizens demonstrated commitment and dedication as they turned out to vote in elections that hold the promise of setting a new standard for integrity in Nigeria‘s electoral process. The presidential election was the second in a series that appears to mark a turning point for Africa‘s most populous country.

At the same time, the April 16 poll, like those on April 9, revealed important problems that need to be addressed before the upcoming state elections and in the longer term. Continued vigilance is still needed through the completion of the 2011 election process to realize the promise of these polls.

Effective and committed leadership at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is a key factor in the improvement over previous polls. However, democratic elections are not simply a technical exercise and their success does not rest with the electoral authority alone. While the election commission is charged with providing an effec- tive and neutral setting for voting, the actions of political parties and their supporters, security forces, citizen election observers and other civil society organizations and voters themselves significantly impact the integrity of the electoral process.

Each of these actors contributed to the improvements of the April 9 and 16 polls, while each faces challenges to maintaining electoral integrity.

Millions of Nigerian citizens met their civic responsibility with great enthusiasm and perseverance through their presence in polling stations across the country on election day. The delegation applauds this dedication and encourages continued engagement by citizens and their organizations in upcoming elections and other political

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TOP 3 Candidates during 2011 Elections

President Goodluck Jonathan won in 2011 thanks to voters turnout.

% of PDP margin

RIBADU BUHARI

JONATHAN

ANPP

% of PDP margin

Total number of voters turnout

Lowest percentage of voters that voted PDP in Bauchi

TOP 3: Total number of voters

Total number of oppositions votes less than PDP votes

pdp

CPC

ACN

73,528,040 registered for the elections

TOP 5: States with highest registered voters 6,108,069

31.84%

% = Turnout

Percentage of voters turnout during the 2011 elections.

5,027,297

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3,905,387

3,126,898

2,523,614

63.80% Bauchi

52.43% Katsina

65.81%

Kaduna

Kano

Lagos

53.17%

73,528,040 Total number of registered voters in 2011 elections. infograph by sunny hughes ‘sunza’

what they said...

S/N

STATE

PDP

ACN

CPC

ANPP

Others

Reg. Voters

TOTAL

Voter Turnout

PDP Margin

CPC Margin

ACN Margin

1

ABIA

1,175,984

4,392

3,743

1,455

2,759

1,188,333

1,524,484

77.95%

98.96%

0.31%

0.37%

2

ADAMAWA

508,314

32,786

344,526

2,706

19,374

907,706

1,816,094

49.98%

56.00%

37.96%

3.61%

3

AKWA IBOM

1,165,629

54,148

5,348

2,000

5,270

1,232,395

1,616,873

76.22%

94.58%

0.43%

4.39%

4

ANAMBRA

1,145,169

3,437

4,223

975

3,435

1,157,239

2,011,746

57.52%

98.96%

0.36%

0.30%

5

BAUCHI

258,404

16,674

1,315,209

8,777

11,030

1,610,094

2,523,614

63.80%

16.05%

81.69%

1.04%

6

BAYELSA

504,811

370

691

136

685

506,693

591,870

85.61%

99.63%

0.14%

0.07%

7

BENUE

694,776

223,007

109,680

8,592

11,654

1,047,709

2,390,884

43.82%

66.31%

10.47%

21.29%

8

BORNO

207,075

7,533

909,763

37,279

15,996

1,177,646

2,380,957

49.46%

17.58%

77.25%

0.64%

9

CROSS RIVER

709,382

5,889

4,002

2,521

4,547

726,341

1,148,486

63.24%

97.67%

0.55%

0.81%

10

DELTA

1,378,851

1,310

8,960

2,746

6,712

1,398,579

2,032,191

68.82%

98.59%

0.64%

0.09%

11

EBONYI

480,592

1,112

1,025

14,296

5,865

502,890

1,050,534

47.87%

95.57%

0.20%

0.22%

12

EDO

542,173

54,242

17,795

2,174

4,808

621,192

1,655,776

37.52%

87.28%

2.86%

8.73%

13

EKITI

135,009

116,981

2,689

1,482

5,697

261,858

764,726

34.24%

51.56%

1.03%

44.67%

14

ENUGU

802,144

1,755

3,753

1,111

5,246

814,009

1,303,155

62.46%

98.54%

0.46%

0.22%

15

FCT

253,444

2,327

131,576

3,170

7,577

398,094

943,473

42.19%

63.66%

33.05%

0.58%

16

GOMBE

290,347

3,420

459,898

5,693

10,661

770,019

1,318,377

58.41%

37.71%

59.73%

0.44%

17

IMO

1,381,357

14,821

7,591

2,520

3,561

1,409,850

1,687,293

83.56%

97.98%

0.54%

1.05%

18

JIGAWA

419,252

17,355

663,994

7,673

32,492

1,140,766

2,013,974

56.64%

36.75%

58.21%

1.52%

19

KADUNA

1,190,179

11,278

1,334,244

17,301

16,961

2,569,963

3,905,387

65.81%

46.31%

51.92%

0.44%

20

KANO

440,666

42,353

1,624,543

526,310

39,356

2,673,228

5,027,297

53.17%

16.48%

60.77%

1.58%

21

KATSINA

428,392

10,945

1,163,919

6,342

29,934

1,639,532

3,126,898

52.43%

26.13%

70.99%

0.67%

22

KEBBI

369,198

26,171

501,453

3,298

23,979

924,099

1,638,308

56.41%

39.95%

54.26%

2.83%

23

KOGI

399,816

6,516

132,201

16,491

6,758

561,782

1,316,849

42.66%

71.17%

23.53%

1.16%

24

KWARA

268,243

52,432

83,603

1,672

8,804

414,754

1,152,361

35.99%

64.68%

20.16%

12.64%

25

LAGOS

1,281,688

427,203

189,983

8,941

37,229

1,945,044

6,108,069

31.84%

65.90%

9.77%

21.96%

26

NASSARAWA

408,997

1,204

278,390

1,047

4,889

694,527

1,389,308

49.99%

58.89%

40.08%

0.17%

27

NIGER

321,429

13,344

652,574

7,138

24,682

1,019,167

2,175,421

46.85%

31.54%

64.03%

1.31%

28

OGUN

309,177

199,555

17,654

2,969

14,360

543,715

1,941,170

28.01%

56.86%

3.25%

36.70%

29

ONDO

387,376

74,253

11,890

6,741

6,577

486,837

1,616,091

30.12%

79.57%

2.44%

15.25%

30

OSUN

188,409

299,711

6,997

3,617

13,980

512,714

1,293,967

39.62%

36.75%

1.36%

58.46%

31

OYO

484,758

252,240

92,396

7,156

26,994

863,544

2,572,140

33.57%

56.14%

10.70%

29.21%

32

PLATEAU

1,029,865

10,181

356,551

5,235

9,285

1,411,117

2,259,194

62.46%

72.98%

25.27%

0.72%

33

RIVERS

1,817,762

16,382

13,182

1,449

5,341

1,854,116

2,429,231

76.33%

98.04%

0.71%

0.88%

34

SOKOTO

309,057

20,144

540,769

5,063

34,775

909,808

2,267,509

40.12%

33.97%

59.44%

2.21%

35

TARABA

451,354

17,791

257,986

1,203

10,731

739,065

1,336,221

55.31%

61.07%

34.91%

2.41%

36

YOBE

117,128

6,069

337,537

143,179

18,202

622,115

1,373,796

45.28%

18.83%

54.26%

0.98%

37

ZAMFARA

238,980

17,970

624,515

46,554

14,660

942,679

1,824,316

51.67%

25.35%

66.25%

1.91%

TOTAL

22,495,187

2,067,301

12,214,853

917,012

504,866

38,199,219

73,528,040

51.95%

58.89%

5.41%

31.98%

2.40%

1.32%

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Jonathan Poised for Victory Over Buhari in Nigerian Presidential Election

“It appears to be going quite smoothly” http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-18/nigeria-s-jonathanmeets-the-requirements-for-president-elect-after-vote.html

A watershed presidential election in one of America’s top oil suppliers, Nigeria, unfolded peacefully on Saturday, a first for a country with a history of rigged and violent votes in the 12 years since the end of military rule.

Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan may be formally declared the winner of Nigeria’s presi- dential election after winning almost twice as many votes as his closest rival, while opposi- tion protests spread in six northern cities.

With results for all 36 states released, Jonathan won 22.5 million votes and led in 21 states, compared with 12.2 million for his closest rival, former military ruler Muham- madu Buhari, who won 12 states, the electoral commission said. The Washingtonbased International Republic Institute observer group called the vote “a major step forward in advancing Nigeria’s democracy.”

Jonathan, 53, has promised to target spending on infrastructure, including power and railways, in an effort to boost employment in Africa’s top oil producer where the United Nations Development Programme says more than half of the people live on less than $1 a day.

“The continuity of having Jonathan as president will be good for investors,” said Dicially in the power sector and the petroleum industry, which is key for the economy.”

‘Transparent’ Election “The election overall was transparent and orderly, allowing Nigerians the opportunity for exercise their vote,” the International Republican Institute said in its statement to- day.

Nigerians have never voted before in such favorable conditions, analysts and election monitors said: ballot materials appear to have arrived on time, there were few reports of violence and the registration process before the voting appeared to have gone smoothly.

The implications of the clean vote, for a new democracy still struggling to establish itself after years of dictatorship, are big. Analysts noted that the winner would most likely have a legitimacy denied to his predecessors elected under murky circumstances, including ballot stealing, a fraudulent polling list and the violent intimidation of voters, all features of the last presidential election, the widely denounced 2007 vote.

None of those flaws appeared to be a significant part of the electoral landscape on Saturday. “It appears to be going quite smoothly,” said the leader of the National Democratic Institute’s observer mission, Joe Clark, a former Canadian prime minister, speaking from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

“It’s gone in a quite orderly fashion,” he said, as large numbers of voters waited patiently. “Their numbers were called, and they queued up.”

Compared with earlier years, relatively few people, about 39, were killed in pre-election violence, according to the Election Situation Room, a Nigerian civil society group. There have been several bomb blasts as well, notably in the north, home to a militant Islamic sect. But the systematic manipulation that plagued previous elections appeared to be absent, experts said.

On Saturday, electoral officials were using an uncomplicated procedure for cutting down on fraud, Mr. Clark said. They were asking voters to remain near the polling places. “Their simple presence is supposed to deter what happened before,” he said.

“The reason they are staying is to protect their vote.”

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flashback

Their watchful eyes are credited with deterring fraud and their numbers are seen as preventing intimidation of voters and poll workers. In addition, the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan, is considered a credible candidate who is almost certain to be the eventual winner, although he could face a runoff. He has repeatedly called on his supporters to refrain from intimidation and acts of violence. Further, Mr. Jonathan’s main opponent, Muhammadu Buhari, said Saturday that he would not contest the results of the vote.

Nigeria, which is America’s fourth-biggest supplier of crude oil, Africa’s most populous country and home to major investments by American energy companies, is considered by the United States to be “one of the two most important countries in sub-Saharan Africa,” Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said in a conference call with reporters from Nigeria and elsewhere last month. The other major country usually cited is South Africa.

Mr. Jonathan’s appointment of a respected political scientist, Attahiru Jega, last year to run the Independent National Electoral Commission, a will to reform appeared evident. Mr. Jega has received high marks for the expeditious cleaning of a voter list that included thousands of illegitimate names — of dead people and celebrities — using a computer registration system deployed at thousands of polling places in the vast country of 150 million, and taking electronic fingerprints of every voter.

Already, before Saturday’s vote, the parliamentary elections last week were “peaceful and credible in most parts of the country,” said Peter Lewis, a Nigeria expert at Johns Hopkins University. “This is the first poll they’ve had under a civilian administration where they’ve had a reasonable degree of organization,” Mr. Lewis said.

This year’s election was being closely watched by American officials because, despite shaking off military rule in 1999, Nigeria has maintained an ambiguous, less-than-democratic status, undermined by large-scale corruption, fraud and an elections agency that appeared to increase rather than combat those flaws.

Even more than the outcome, with Mr. Jonathan’s victory largely assumed, the process has been under scrutiny. Already, with

“Our peoples’ right to choose who governs them is inalien- able.” February 2010”

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voice of america

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/International-ElectionObserver-Declares-Nigeria-Presidential-Vote-Credible--120298144. html

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (C), accompanied by his running mate Arc Namadi Sambo (Behind), is congratulated by Cabinet members after being declared winner of the presidential election, in Abuja, on April 18, 2011 The leader of an observer mission at last weekend’s presidential election in Nigeria says the vote was largely free and fair.

It was a significant improvement over the 2007 general elections, said Robin Carnahan of the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute [NDI], and the secretary of state of the U.S. state of Missouri. Most observers described those earlier polls as flawed.

“The presidential and National Assembly elections represent a step forward from seriously flawed elections of the past,” said the NDI in a statement. It said they hold the promise of setting a new standard for integrity in Nigeria’s electoral process.

“Our observation team went to a couple of hundred [polling stations] and there were other domestic and international observers [there],” said Carnahan. “And all of us, in the main, thought the process ran relatively smoothly. Obviously, there were imperfections in it, but it seems to [have] run smoothly.”

The Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] did a good job organizing it, she added.

“There were a number of people in our delegation that observed the elections in 2007,” Carnahan said, “and they said they felt like there was a marked difference this year. That there was a determination on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission to run a real election, [and] a free and fair election.

There was determination on the part of the Nigerian people to participate in an election that really reflected their voice.”

In addition to Carnahan, the NDI poll observer mission includes Joe Clark, former prime minister of Canada; Mahamane Ousmane, former president of Niger and former president of the ECOWAS Parliament; and Christopher Fomunyoh, NDI senior associate and regional director for Central and West Africa.

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“The presidential and National Assembly elections represent a step forward from seriously flawed elections of the past”

what they said... flashback

Peter Lewis, Direct, SAIS, Washington DC in Think Africa Press

http://www.sais-jhu.edu/pressroom/sais-in-the-news/index.htm

The 2011 elections in Nigeria represent a political sea change in two respects. First, a civilian administration has overseen a broadly credible election. Every civilian-administered poll since 1964 has been tainted by misconduct, violence, and systemic fraud. Elected governments have suffered chronic problems of legitimacy, leading to the collapse of two previous democratic regimes and sustained unrest during the last twelve years of electoral rule. This time, it is different. The current President and ruling party candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, made a public priority of electoral reform and set in place essential changes to improve the conduct of elections. The new Chairman of the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has gained universal confidence as a dedicated and capable figure, and he has been given the resources and political backing to do his job.

Despite a number of organizational problems, parliamentary elections were carried out April 9 and Presidential polling on April 16 in a general atmosphere of calm, enthusiasm, and order. By most accounts, electoral procedures were routine and transparent at the great majority of polling stations. Election officials, security forces, and political parties conducted themselves with professionalism and restraint. Millions of citizens cast their ballots without interference and had confidence in the final result. This mood of empowerment is virtually unprecedented. The results of the polls encourage confidence, as the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has lost significant ground in the legislature, while President Jonathan’s electoral majority is diminished from previous contests. The specter of a near-monopoly of power by the PDP has receded, and a more competitive system may be coming into focus.

A second important factor is the transformational role of civil society and citizen oversight. Domestic observers have participated in previous elections, though often with little cooperation from election authorities or political parties. In the 2011 elections, civic organizations have come into their own, with remarkably innovative strategies for the use of information and communication

technologies, including text messaging, social media, and internet platforms. Thousands of incident reports and polling observations have circulated in real time, and results have been posted from polling sites, counting centers and final certified releases.

Moreover, INEC procedures encouraged voters to congregate at polling locations, and a sense of vigilance motivated crowds to monitor procedures and witness the count. Civic participation has offered many Nigerians a glimpse of new possibilities for political engagement.

Two disturbing trends also emerge from the elections. First, the positive features of the polling should not obscure the deepseated problems remaining in Nigeria’s electoral system. Hundreds of situation reports documented incidents of improper voting, mishandling of ballots, intimidation, violence and potential fraud. These were fewer in number and far less systematic than in previous elections, but the scope of problems underscores the difficulties that remain in administering well-ordered and transparent elections.

Second, and potentially much more consequential, the 2011 elections have produced a voting map that is virtually bifurcated by region and religion. The southern states voted overwhelmingly for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is from Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta and is a Christian. Indeed, many states in the southeast have reported higher than average rates of voter participation and near-unanimous votes for Jonathan, raising questions about the validity of some results. In the northern Muslim-majority states, voters turned out in droves for retired Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, who drew on sentiments for a president from the north, in accord with the informal powersharing agreement among some political elites. In the wake of the presidential polls, rioting has erupted in the northern states of Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Adamawa, and earlier bombings served as an ominous warning of potential unrest.

Nigeria’s 2011 elections could represent a tremendous step toward government legitimacy and citizen engagement with the political process. The communal polarization evident in the race, however, raises major concerns about national accord and governability. President Jonathan will have to make serious, sustained and judicious efforts to encourage a sense of inclusion among the northern segments of the country, and to foster the accommodation of Nigeria’s contentious telements in the coming years.

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president jonathan and his wife, dame patience, during the 2011 campaign

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photo speaks.. vice president namadi mohammed sambo and wife, hajiya amina

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photo speaks...

president jonathan and vice-president sambo

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what they photo speaks... said...

president jonathan and vice-president sambo

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what they photo speaks... said...

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Laugh it off!

Nigerians are very creative and humorous, as you can see from the invented quotes below. Source unknown.

No matter how hot your temper is, it cannot cook yam - Goodluck Jonathan (2013)

Only a courageous woman can fry a bunch of plantain without tasting any – herbert Macauley (1872) He who says nothing lasts forever has never tried Hausa perfume – -Nelson Mandela (1973) He who completely unwraps moimoi and gala before eating cannot keep a secret – Abraham Lincoln (1864) Any man that uses his teeth to cut shaki from pepper soup, with his eyes wide open, is not afraid of anything – Williams Shakespeare (1900)

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Drinking Garri doesn’t mean u’re poor, but allowing the Garri to swell b4 drinking is poverty –Queen Elizabeth (1893) He who runs around looking 4 scissors to cut indomine seasoning sachet is not hungry – Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe (1947) Anyone who reads this without laughing is either looking 4 job or needs money badly –Barack Obama (2014) Anyone who graduates without experiencing a strike, has never been to Nigeria – Lord Lugard (1904) He who refuses to mix agege bread and akara as a type of sandwich is a racist – Martin Luther King jnr (1788) Any man who drinks Alomo bitters without squeezing his face, is capable of murder – Michael Faraday (1899)

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FOR THE RECORD CHEERFUL GIVERS - Those who contributed to buy PDP presidential nomination form for President Goodluck Jonathan

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Mr. Kennedy Ikenna Odoeme – N5, 000 Mr Ezemagu Sunday Nnamdi – N10, 000 PDP Governors – N22 Million Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) – N22m Ogbia LGA Stakeholders, Bayelsa state – N5m Otuoke Community Stakeholders – N2m Brass LGA Stakeholders, Bayelsa state – N50, 000 Bayelsa State PDP Stakeholders- N5m Northern Youth Forum – N2m Central Market Traders Union, Kaduna State – N1m PDP Stakeholders, Zaria LGA – N500, 000 PDP Stakeholders, Yobe State – N500, 000 PDP Stakeholders, Kaduna State- N2m Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore – N5m Goodluck Support Group, Gombe State – N1m Adamawa State PDP Stakeholders – N3m Ebonyi State PDP Stakeholders- N2m Kogi State PDP Stakeholders – N5m Rivers State PDP Stakeholders – N5m The 2015 Project – N1m Team Goodluck, Ondo North Senatorial District – N5m Middle Belt PDP Women Support Group for GEJ 2015 – N500, 000 King David Generation Foundation, Jos – N200, 000 Behwong Weneng Yere Duk, Jos – N200,000 Redemption 3 Youth Organization, Plateau State – N500, 000 Plateau State Indigenes Association, Abuja – N300,000 Gombe Youth United for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan 2015 – N500, 000 Gombe Youth Vanguard for PDP- N500, 000 Yamahu/Deba Goodluck Support Group – N200, 000 Coalition of Gombe Support Groups for Goodluck Ebele Jonathan – N2m Hinna Youth Coalition for Goodluck – N500, 000 Nigerian Women Pray for Jonathan - N1m National Association of Widows - N100, 000 National Council of Women Societies - N500, 000 Female members of the PDP Board of Trustees - N500,000 Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities - N100,000 National Association of Market Women - N500, 000 Community Awareness and Development Network – N1 m Presidential View And Endorsement Platform -N200,000 Association of South East Town Unions - N300,000 Goodluck Jonathan 2015 Online Group - 250,000 The Light Network for Jonathan 2015, Lagos State – N300,000 Igbo Speaking Community, Lagos State - N200,000 Oghareki Graduate Association for Jonathan, Delta State – N500,000

President Jonathan playing host to some of the Chibok schoolgirls who fled from Boko Haram’s captivity. The President has launched the Safe School Initiative for greater security in schools

MY AMBITION IS NOT WORTH THE BLOOD OF ANY NIGERIAN – JONATHAN

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