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Nigeria: The president makes a commitment for an electoral reform

By on May 31, 2010
On each May 29th the country celebrates “the democracy day”, which commemorates every year the end of the military regime in 1999. On this occasion and in a speech addressed to the nation, President Goodluck Jonathan pronounced in favor of transparent elections. He promised to watch the holding of free and fair elections in April, 2011, and wished the adoption of electoral reforms by the end of the year 2010.

The electoral reform was one of promises of the deceased president Umaru Yar’ Adua. In his trail, new head of state Goodluck Jonathan made his hobbyhorse. At the beginning of May, he so dismissed Maurice Iwu, president of the CENI, the Independent national electoral Commission.
The man had been strongly criticized for “ballot boxes stuffing, intimidation acts and other irregular procedures, which had soiled the presidential ballot of 2007. But the name of his replacement is not revealed yet.
The president pressed the Parliament to adopt the electoral reform before the end of the year. The text recommends in particular the implementation of a period of six months between enter the ballot day and the nomination of the Head of the State. The next nomination, according to the Constitution, has to take place in May. In case the measure is adopted, it could mean that the election will be advanced and will take place at the end of 2010 and not as expected, in April, 2011.

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