Nigeria's 2007 elections were remarkable in a number of ways. First, they came after eight turbulent years of democracy - the longest period since the country's independence from the British Government in 1960.

Secondly, it put paid to any inordinate ambition the incumbent president, Olusegun Obasanjo haboured of extending his stay in Aso Villa. Also, coming after his two-term rule, for the first time in the country's history, there was going to be a civilian-civilian transfer of power. Undoubtedly, it would have been even more remarkable if the opposition had managed to wrestle power from the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but that was not to be.

In 2006, while Nigerians expected Obasanjo’s government to be winding down, the ex-military dictator apparently nurtured other ideas. He initiated a process of constitutional amendment which would grant him another term of four years. While there was general outcry among the populace against his plans, many believed the success with which some of his counterparts in several other African climes perpetuated their hold on power would have buoyed him.

One of the main opposers of Obasanjo’s infamous third term agenda was his vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, who himself had eyes on the presidential seat. Although his[b] (Obasanjo’s) attempt to rewrite the constitution in his favour was dead on arrival on the floor of Nigeria’s Sixth Senate,[/b] a battle line had been drawn between him and Atiku.

It was not surprising to many therefore when Obasanjo went against his assistant's ambition and chose to back another northerner, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his successor. An affable and simple character, Yar’Adua was from a very influential family in the North. He was governor of Katsina State from 1999 to 2007. His intellectual and moral capacity to lead the slumbering African giant was hardly in question. The other two top contenders, Atiku and another former military dictator, Muhammadu Buhari could not match Yar’Adua’s academic resume. He was a Master’s Degree holder, also famous for being the first Nigerian governor to ever declare his assets publicly.

What Nigerians questioned (and rightly so, as posterity would settle) was Yar’Adua’s physical capacity to function as president. In fact, he was repeatedly absent during his own election campaign, having to travel abroad to attend to health challenges. On one occasion, as his campaign team were rallying supporters in Ogun State, led by Obasanjo, the president had to call him on phone and asked to the hearing of the cheering crowd, on live television, “Umaru, they say you are dead; are you dead?”

Contrastingly, as other candidates were busy campaigning to woo voters and putting their houses in order in the build up to election day, Atiku was enmeshed in endless court cases in a bid to overturn the election administrator’s decision that he was not fit to contest, on the strength of an indictment by anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. It was not until April 16, just two days to the presidential election, that the Supreme Court, in a unanimous landmark decision, finally cleared Atiku to contest, declaring that only a court of competent jurisdiction, not the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had the powers to indict an individual and void his right to freely contest an election.

Many questioned the veracity of the final 2007 election result released by INEC, who till date, cannot produce a state by state breakdown of voting figures. The election was widely regarded as the worst in Nigerian election administration history, with both local and international observers finding that it was deeply flawed. Even Yar'Adua, the election's chief benefactor, with 69.60% of votes, (24,638,063), recognized that the country's electoral process lacked legitimacy and that the 2007 elections fell short of international standards. In his words: “The April elections were so heavily marred by vote rigging that European Union observers said they fell far below basic international standards and were not credible.”

This general opinion, as newly sworn-in President Yar’Adua admitted, compelled his administration to inaugurate a 22-man electoral reform committee.

The fundamental question at this juncture is: What went wrong with the elections?

The answer to this lies in the electoral administration. The polls were characterized by widespread malpractice occurring throughout all stages of the elections, with failures in the late delivery of voting materials, late commencement of polls in most of the states, ballot box stuffing, allocation of votes where voting did not take place, falsification of votes, deliberate denial of election materials to perceived strong-holds of the opposition, and other such nefarious activities.

According to several sources, the ruling party rigged the results in advance, even for local government, in all but a handful of states as part of an intra-elite arrangement, unintentionally disclosing (accurate) 'results' to the press a few days before the election. Some states, notably Rivers, Ogun, Oyo, and Ekiti, had vote totals substantially above the number of registered voters. 2007 marked a shift from 'competitive rigging' to vote-allocation, or 'direct capture'. Furthermore, all rounds of the elections were characterized by unusually high levels of political violence. On the day of the election, 55 people were reportedly killed, while unofficial estimates put the total number of deaths at 200 across the country.

The electoral administrator, INEC, had mortgaged the public trust and was itself a pliant tool of the ruling PDP. INEC agreed that there were numerous irregularities and fraud in the 2007 race, but it blamed the political parties involved. Furthermore, the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) in charge of local government elections were said to be overwhelmingly partisan and incompetent.

No wonder, therefore, many consider the 2007 general elections in Nigeria as ‘stolen’ elections.

This is not to imply that the elections were without any redeeming quality: Most studies highlight that the media and civil society were more effective, and that electoral tribunals were in place to hear post-election issues. However, these are minor positives in an otherwise lacklustre picture. Fifteen years later, the jury is still out on whether the 2007 election was progress for Nigeria, or it was one systematically programmed for failure.

Interesting read. Those years when Obasanjo allocate elections figures in his Aso Rock villa.

VladimirPutiin:
Interesting read. Those years when Obasanjo allocate elections figures in his Aso Rock villa.

Thanks for the compliment.

crazy election year. Even though bubu has failed us, I must commend his efforts on free, fair and credible elections. Goodluck Jonathan tried too, despite the pressure to disrupt the 2015 general elections, he never obliged. 2007 was bloody, PDP thugs showed us shege, this is all thanks to Obasanjo.

Softmirror:


IT GAVE BIRTH TO THE POLITICAL REFORM ORCHESTRATED BY THE LATE PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA WHO HIMSELF AGREED THAT THE ELECTION THAT BROUGHT HIM TO POWER WASN'T WITHOUT ALOT OF DIRTY POLITICS.

true