The 1998/1999 elections illuminated several shortcomings in Nigeria’s electoral process. In order to address these problems, IFES, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), IFES and INEC conducted a comprehensive joint assessment of the process; the assessment resulted in the development of a comprehensive, three year strategic plan for the 2003 elections. To meet the overall goal of significantly improving the transparency and credibility of future voter registration exercises and elections in Nigeria, INEC adopted four strategic program goals and four institutional development/management goals. These goals were:

1. A more transparent and credible election process in Nigeria;
2. Stronger autonomy and independence of INEC will be fostered;
3. The planning and logistics of INEC will ensure adequate and timely resources for all activities and programs;
4. NEC will rely on information technology to better manage voter registration and election processes;
5. INEC will integrate its planning, budget and management systems;
6. INEC will improve its election management processes at all levels;
7. A credible, new voters’ register will be established;
8. All Nigerian citizens will know and understand their rights as they pertain to elections and voting.

In order to meet these goals, IFES embarked upon a capacity-building program with INEC which aimed to increase the professionalism of electoral administration in Nigeria and establish a foundation for a fair and competitive electoral system.

This capacity-building program includes:

IFES has designed and is implementing a new and innovative program of basic training in election administration for the 774 INEC Electoral Officers who manage the election process at the local level. IFES and INEC recognized that elections are managed primarily by local electoral officials; thus, it is crucial that they understand their proper role in election administration. IFES training for Electoral Officers is designed around a two-week workshop in basic election administration.

The BEAT workshops are interactive in nature and cover the following areas:

• Principles in Election Administrationa
• Free and Fair Elections
• Election Planning
• Election Logistics
• Electoral Law
• Ethics in Election Administration
• Conflict Management
• Dealing with the Media
• Women in Election Administration

The workshops also aim to foster a sense of professionalism in INEC staff and to promote consistency in the administration of elections throughout the country.

The first two rounds of BEAT workshops took place in October/November 2002. IFES deployed five international, election administration trainers to conduct a total of 10 workshops, covering 10 states, training 250+ Electoral Officers. The third round of BEAT will take place in February 2003. This round will include ten trainers covering an additional 14 states.

Recognizing that most election administration problems occur at the local level, IFES supported the establishment of monthly forums involving INEC electoral officers and local political party representatives in each of the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria. The meetings were designed to lower tensions and foster a cooperative relationship between local party officials and INEC.

The recent increase in the number of registered political parties to 30 has placed strain on the feasibility of continuing such monthly fora today. As such, IFES will continue to promote political party dialog at the local level through funding of 36 state workshops for state and local election officers on building constructive relationships with political parties. IFES has been working with INEC to develop guidelines for state and local officers to follow in conducting their meetings. Furthermore, assistance will be extended to INEC in developing a standard reporting system for the forum meetings.

IFES has designed a program in Information Technology training which includes training in Windows NT and in Visual Basic for all INEC Information Technology Staff. In addition, IFES provided assistance and training to the Commission in the design of software to manage a voter registry with 60 million records. This innovative training program made extensive use of the Internet. An IFES training consultant based in Arizona designed training modules which were e-mailed to students at the INEC. The students completed their assignments and returned them to the consultant via the internet. The consultant traveled twice to Nigeria to supplement this training with one-on-one training. The program promoted the use of technology and saved thousands of dollars since the trainer’s presence in Nigeria was not required for extended periods of time. IFES is currently working with the INEC to assess their post election IT training needs.

Logistics is at the heart of any election process. IFES has begun the process of providing training and assistance in the development of a national logistics plan for the 2003 elections. In October of 2002, IFES deployed a logistics expert to work with the Department of Logistics at the Commission to design an overall framework for the 2003 elections. His work included development of an Electoral Material Control Database, design of Generic Reporting Forms and drafting of a Transport Database Plan. The consultant will return in February 2003 in order to conduct a national training workshop for State Logistics Officers and administrative secretaries on the national plan for logistics management.

What gets measured gets done. This is a basic principle of election administration. IFES deployed a performance monitoring specialist in November of 2002 to provide training to INEC Department of Research, Planning and Statistics. In addition to training staff from the Department on basic principles of performance monitoring, the consultant also worked with the Research and Planning Department to establish a process to collect performance monitoring data from the states. A consultant will return in February of 2003 to conduct a National Workshop of State Administrative Secretaries on the process of reporting performance information to National Headquarters. These activities will ensure that preparations for the 2003 elections stay on track.

IFES provided an expert in the development of poll worker training programs to work with the INEC Training Unit of the Field Services in developing polling station manuals for the 2003 elections. In addition, the consultant designed a manual and training program for the display of the voters’ register as requested by INEC. IFES will print both the voter register display manual and the polling station manuals for use in the elections. IFES will also undertake the distribution of both manuals to polling stations, domestic monitoring groups and political parties.

In addition to working directly with the Commission, IFES also works with civil society organizations (CSOs) to promote a constructive working relationship between INEC and civil society. The program awards grants to CSOs that are willing to work in a cooperative relationship with INEC.

Thus far two grants have been awarded to Community Action for Popular Participation (CAPP). The first award helped organize a workshop around the issue of grassroots participation in the voter registration process with emphasis on voter education. The second grant funded a workshop to train other civil society organizations on how to conduct focus group studies. These CSOs then used the training to conduct studies on citizen views of the 2002 voter registration exercise and of INEC. In addition, the African Centre for Democratic Governance (Afrigov) received a grant to conduct a workshop on the implications of the 2001 Electoral Act on the election process. Finally, the Legal Defence Centre (LDC) was awarded a subgrant to study the types of allegations filed against the local government election results. This information was used to inform INEC of the changes needed in order to avoid the same types of charges in 2003.

Currently, IFES is reviewing applications for a sub grant award to a civil society group that will work with INEC to collect data on the percentage of women voters in the upcoming 2003 national elections. The goal of this award is to understand better the pattern of women voters and to increase recognition of women as a special interest group. In cooperation with IFES, the CSO will analyze the data gathered from the elections to assess women’s political participation. This study will inform civil society and political parties of women’s political participation and provide the needed indicators to increase their participation.

While the INEC is responsible for State and Federal Elections, each state is responsible for the conduct of local government elections under Nigeria's federal system of government. In each state, a State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) has been established. To assist the local government election process, IFES designed a one-week orientation workshop for all SIEC Commissioners and the Executive Secretaries of each Commission. The workshops are designed to provide a common understanding and approach to the administration of local government elections. The workshops focus on the following areas of election administration:

• Principles of Election Administration
• Free and Fair Elections
• Election Planning
• Conflict Management

Two consultants were deployed to Nigeria to conduct the SIEC workshops in June/July of 2002. Twelve workshops were conducted covering six geo-political zones with 288 Commissioners and Commission Secretaries trained.

The Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (INEC) is responsible for a voter registry of 67 million Nigerians as well as the conduct of all State and Federal elections. With almost 10,000 employees nationwide, it is one of the major institutions of democratic governance in Nigeria.

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