U.S. monitors fear poor preparations may mar poll

With just about two weeks to go before the first in a series of elections in Nigeria, "crucial aspects of the electoral process are unresolved" and poor preparations may mar the polls, election monitors of the U.S-based Carter Centre and National Democratic Institute (NDI)said on Friday. In a joint pre-election assessment report, the groups expressed concern that the voters' register was not yet ready and that there was no "well-publicised national security plan" to deal with a growing wave of political violence. Elections to Nigeria's federal parliament are to be held 12 April followed on 19 April by presidential polls and elections to the post of state governor. Should a second round be required to determine the country's president, it is to be held on 26 April, followed on 3 May by elections to state legislatures. Friday's report also expressed concern that the process chosen by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for accrediting Nigerian civil society groups as election observers was cumbersome and likely to undermine their effective participation. Equally troubling, it said, was the "absence of public scrutiny of campaign finance" and the lack of a "mechanism for investigating reports of abuses" despite the well-known "corrosive influence of money" in Nigerian politics. Both organisations said they were "deeply concerned that deficiencies and other flaws related to the organisation and conduct of the upcoming elections, if not addressed and corrected, could irreparably harm public faith in the country's democratic process". The Carter Centre and the NDI said they formed the opinions after a one-week trip to Nigeria between 16-21 March by a joint team which met with Nigerian political party leaders, INEC, civil society groups, the private sector, media and the international community. "The team and many Nigerians with whom it met fear a repeat of the serious flaws that were evident in the 1998-99 election process," the report said. Both organisations monitored the 1999 elections that brought President Olusegun Obasanjo to office and ended more than 15 years of military rule. They had expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the vote, citing many malpractices.