Was the election fair?

last updated 8 January 2015

Abuja, Nigeria

President Olusegun Obasanjo won re-election this week in a vote marred by allegations of cheating. It was the first election since 1999, when Obasanjo’s win ended 15 years of military rule, and Nigerians were hoping for a fraud-free demonstration of democracy. But the U.S.-based National Democratic Institute said it saw “ballot stuffing, rigging, voter intimidation, violence, and fraud,” particularly in the southern Niger Delta region—which is where the oil fields are. The loser, opposition candidate Muhammad Buhari, called the vote “a big joke.” Both Obasanjo and Buhari are ex-generals who have led military juntas in Nigeria.