Skip to main content

Stunned and disbelieving, Nigerians stood numbly at the polling stations as the news trickled down: their voting day had been cancelled.

Some were furious. Others were confused. Few trusted the official explanation about the late delivery of ballot papers and the need to postpone the parliamentary election - nearly five hours after the election had begun.

"There's something fishy going on," one voter said. "Why did they cancel it at such a late hour?"

After years of rigged elections, this was to be a historic turning point: the first chance for real democracy in Africa's most populous country. But an organizational fiasco has sparked a series of delays in the voting dates, casting doubt on the credibility of Nigeria's crucial elections this month.

The elections are still likely to produce a fairer and more unpredictable result than the widely condemned vote that followed the end of military dictatorship in 1999. The embarrassing delays, however, are stirring up the cynicism of many Nigerians who have witnessed their politicians bribing or bullying their way into office for years.

Nigeria's election commission announced Sunday night that the parliamentary election has been postponed for a second time. The election, first scheduled for April 2 and then delayed to Monday because ballot papers had not arrived in many regions, is now set for April 9, while the presidential and state governor elections have been postponed until later in the month.

The election chief, Attahiru Jega, said the situation was "an emergency" and pleaded for understanding. He apologized for the delayed ballot distribution, calling it a "major lapse," and asked Nigerians to "remain steadfast" in their commitment to democracy.

Opposition parties and many voters were enraged by the delays. "National shame," screamed a banner headline in a Sunday newspaper. "Catastrophe," an opposition leader said. Many suspected that the delays would benefit the ruling party, the People's Democratic Party, which has more money and more resources to withstand a longer campaign. Others worried that the delays would reduce the voter turnout, again to the advantage of the governing party.

Despite the delays, most analysts are still optimistic that this election will be the fairest and most competitive in Nigeria's recent history. After decades of military rule, followed by three elections with widespread rigging and manipulation, Nigeria has introduced reforms that could eliminate some of the worst abuses of the past. The PDP, meanwhile, is slowly losing its grip on many regions of the country, although it is still favoured to win.

"This time the politicians are being chosen by the people, not by the godfathers," said Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, a former PDP cabinet minister who now supports the opposition. "That's why it is so important to get it right. The election commission has done a very good job."

The previous Nigerian elections, in 2007, were universally condemned as the most flagrantly rigged and violence-plagued in the country's history.



The situation has improved dramatically since the appointment of Mr. Jega as chairman of the national election commission. He is a well-respected professor who opposed the military regimes of the 1990s. He has introduced a hugely expensive $580-million voter-registration system, using fingerprint scans and photos, to discourage multiple voting.

The latest election delays, however, could jeopardize this progress. The secret design of the ballot papers was revealed to anyone who managed to vote on Saturday before the voting was cancelled. "Printing presses are now busily trying to reproduce the ballot papers," Mr. El-Rufai said.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe