61

After the highly contested 2007 elections, President Goodluck Jonathan started to reform Nigeria’s electoral system to improve the credibility of the April 2011 elections. This led to the appointment of a reform committee, the appointment of a new team to head up Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission, and a partial reorganization that cleaned up the main police and security agencies. This paper examines the effects of the reforms on the 2011 election process with regard to electoral abuses in particular. In contrast with other elections that have taken place since Nigeria’s return to democracy, the results of elections on April 9 and 26, 2011 were generally applauded. This suggests that they were relatively free and fair, and, most importantly, that there was a sharp decline in observed abuses.