After a prolonged back and forth between political parties, civil society, and the current administration, Africa’s largest election — and a touchstone for the state of global democracy — appears to be on track to move forward as planned.
As election commissioners in Nigeria struggle to distribute voter ID cards throughout the sprawling country’s 36 states, rumors circulated that the government would delay the vote for the next Nigerian president due to sluggish distribution of voter IDs. Members of civil society in Nigeria worried the delay could compromise the public’s faith in an already fraught electoral capacity, and derail a democracy effort that has captured the world’s attention.
That concern appears to be assuaged. Multiple sources are reporting that Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission has declared the election will proceed as planned on Feb. 14.
About the author
Molly Andersmollyanders_dev
Molly Anders is a former U.K. correspondent for Devex. Based in London, she reports on development finance trends with a focus on British and European institutions. She is especially interested in evidence-based development and women’s economic empowerment, as well as innovative financing for the protection of migrants and refugees. Molly is a former Fulbright Scholar and studied Arabic in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.