Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria

The International Response to Nigeria’s 2007 Elections
Several of Nigeria’s key allies took a more robust rhetorical position in advance of
the 2007 polls than they had in previous years. The United Kingdom publicly insisted
that the elections mark some improvement over the 2003 process and stated that
anything less would be “unacceptable.” 375 Officials from other Western governments
echoed these sentiments albeit in less forceful terms. However, US and European
officials were reluctant to spell out what their insistence on improvement would
mean should the Nigerian government simply ignore it. Months before the polls, one
British official told Human Rights Watch that, “Nigeria can’t take for granted our
response to the outcome of the elections.” 376 But in the absence of any clearly
articulated consequences, the Nigerian government appeared to do precisely that,
and in the end, was proven right.
The disastrous direction in which Nigeria’s 2007 electoral process was heading was
clear to many observers well ahead of the polls. Nearly two months before the
elections, one official with an international organization that fielded an election
monitoring team told Human Rights Watch that, “It’s either the most brazen attempt
to rig I’ve ever seen or a combination of ineptitude, outright contempt for the people
and disregard for the democratic process…This election, you can already call it.” 377
Nigeria's foreign partners were unwilling to criticize the well publicized problems in
organizing the process or even forcefully demand that the Nigerian government attempt
to put things back on track. One western diplomatic source acknowledged to Human
Rights Watch during the run-up to the polls that “there has probably not been nearly
enough of that [criticism in response to early indications that the elections would be
rigged] going on” from the US side. 378 Another Abuja-based diplomat acknowledged
prior to the elections that, “most heads of mission here are just not saying anything.” 379
375 Human Rights Watch interviews with UK diplomatic officials, Abuja, August 2006 and February 26, 2007.
376 Ibid.
377 Human Rights Watch interview with international election monitoring team leader [name withheld], Abuja, February 20,
2007.
378 Human Rights Watch interview with Western diplomat [name withheld], Abuja, February 20, 2007.
379 Human Rights Watch interview with Head of Western diplomatic mission, [name withheld], Abuja, February 21, 2007.
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