Atlantic Council

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On April 19, the Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, in partnership with Africare and Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for International Policy and Innovation (CIPI), hosted a discussion on the recent Nigerian elections and their implications on the future stability of the nation and region. Ambassador Jendayi Frazer, Director of CIPI and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, introduced the session’s moderator Ambassador Robin Sanders, International Affairs Advisor to Africare and former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. Ambassador Sanders opened the session describing the parliamentary and presidential elections as the most credible ones to have taken place in the country’s democratic history. Panelists Dr. J. Peter Pham, Director of the Ansari Center, Reno Omokri, and Dr. Gwendolyn Mikell of Georgetown University echoed the Ambassador’s sentiment, highlighting the role that youth, social media, and women played in ensuring that the electoral process was transparent. With the widespread use of mobile phones and internet usage, voters were able to instantly report the results of their respective polling stations and incidences of ballot rigging. While the majority of the panel was enthusiastic about the progress that Nigeria had made, former Nigerian minister Nasir El-Rufai cautioned Nigerians and the international community against branding the elections as free and fair. Although they may have appeared successful from the international community’s point of view, El-Rufai called for greater action to be taken against the frequent occurrence of human interference with the counting process. 

The hero at the end of the day was the ordinary Nigerian citizen, who according to those who observed the elections, refused to tolerate yet another illegitimate election. Despite its achievement, Nigeria still has a long road ahead, marred by recent political violence in the North, and President Goodluck Jonathan now has the great task of pulling together a divided nation into a coalition. Participants and panelists called for a peaceful solution to the current crises, cooperation among political parties, and greater efforts to ensure the upcoming gubernatorial elections are even more transparent.

Two distinguished members of the audience, H.E. Ade Adefuye, Ambassador of Nigeria to the United States, and Oronto Douglas, Senior Special Assistant to President Jonathan, also briefly addressed the audience.

Introductory Remarks by

Ambassador Jendayi Frazer
Distinguished Public Service Professor, Director, Center for International Policy and Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University

Featuring

H.E. Nasir El-Rufai
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

Dr. Gwendolyn Mikell
Professor of Anthropology and Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Dr. J. Peter Pham
Director, Michael S. Ansari Africa Center, Atlantic Council

Mr. Reno Omokri
Founder, Build Up Nigeria Project

Moderated by

Ambassador Robin Sanders
International Affairs Advisor, Africare

Audio (.mp3, 1:58:00)

Press Coverage

• Nigeria's Elections Get Mixed Reviews - Nico Colombant, VOA News
• Facebook: Goodluck Jonathan