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Sub-Saharan Africa

Jega Announces Voter Registration Figures

By experts and staff

Published
  • John Campbell
    Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies
An electoral officer assists a voter in a makeshift registration centre on the first day of the voters‘ registration exercise in Lagos January 15, 2011. (Akintunde Akinleye/Courtesy Reuters)

It’s been a busy day in Nigeria. For one, INEC announced that it had registered over sixty-three million voters. I think we have to wait for an independent assessment to verify those numbers, but if they are accurate, this is a major achievement.

However, this announcement came with a warning from INEC chairman Jega that significant challenges exist to the execution of a free, fair and credible elections. Further, he cited escalating political violence, about which INEC can do nothing. Still, Jega’s prestige remains high and his periodic statements that he will not certify failed elections are credible.