Since the re-establishment of democratic governance in Nigeria in 1999, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has held firm control of both the executive branch and the legislature. However, especially after the 2003 general elections, the PDP began to experience internal discontent.
Over time, the quarrels within the ruling party steadily degenerated into a crisis. The Commission and other agencies involved in the preparations for the elections soon found themselves confronted with a set of problems which had their roots in this crisis. The more the Commission tried to distance itself, greater were the efforts that were made by some groups to link the agency with the upheaval within the political party.

In 2006, an administrative panel of inquiry set up to investigate the use of public funds by senior government officials indicted Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Section 137-(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly states that a person who “has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud” is ineligible to contest for the office of president. Thus, the Commission was confronted with a provision of the law with which it had to comply.

[Editor’s note: the charge against Mr. Abubakar was subsequently dismissed by a Nigerian court. A later ruling by the Supreme Court just days before the election allowed him to enter the presidential race, in which he came third.]

In due course, the Vice President left the ruling party and joined one of the new political parties, where he easily picked up the ticket for the presidential election. He remained in office as Vice President, further exacerbating the complexity and difficult political circumstances in the days and weeks leading up to the elections.

The split within the ruling party and the presidency was not the only problem that confronted preparations for the 2007 elections, however. The incumbent party and the presidency found themselves in the thick of a controversy triggered by suspicion that the presidency was seeking to amend the constitution to enable state and federal officials whose second—and last—term in office was to expire to run for a third tenure in the elections.

This strong suspicion of a third-term agenda led to the unfortunate total rejection at the National Assembly of a wholesome initiative to amend the constitution. The failure of the initiative also killed very important draft recommendations for the reform of INEC and the electoral process that were part and parcel of the proposed amendment.

The controversy further polarized the already divided sides within the PDP, and created an unwarranted atmosphere of public doubt over preparations for the elections. At the same time, the preparations themselves suffered from this split at the presidency and from the high political temperature it engendered, as it became difficult to implement the Commission’s decisions and strategic plans. Indeed, every effort was made to drag the Commission into the political fray.