Governance
Deliver free and fair elections
Nigeria's elections went from widely condemned in 2007 to broadly credible by 2011, then to BVAS-backed reform by 2023 — judged imperfect at every step, but on an improving trajectory that few other recurring promises in this tracker can claim.
- Conduct free and fair elections
The 2003 election that returned Obasanjo to office was marred by significant irregularities and violence in several states. The 2007 election, held at the end of his term, was assessed by domestic and international observers — and later acknowledged by his own successor — as even more deeply flawed, among the least credible in Nigeria's democratic history.
Wikipedia — 2007 Nigerian general election · updated 2007 - Reform the electoral process after the widely condemned 2007 election
The Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee was established in August 2007 and delivered a comprehensive report in December 2008 recommending sweeping changes, including removing the president's power to appoint the INEC chairman. Only a partial set of the recommendations was eventually adopted, in an Electoral Act amendment signed after Yar'Adua's death, and the core recommendation on INEC's appointment process was rejected by the National Assembly.
Wikipedia — 2007 Nigerian general election · updated December 2008 - Conduct free, fair and credible elections
Under INEC chairman Attahiru Jega, the 2011 general election was widely assessed by domestic and international observers as the most credible in Nigeria's Fourth Republic to that point, despite post-election violence in parts of the North. The 2015 election, which Jonathan lost, was likewise judged broadly credible, and his prompt concession — the first by a sitting Nigerian president — was internationally praised as a milestone for democratic consolidation.
Wikipedia — 2011 Nigerian general election · updated 2011 - Reform the electoral process for credible elections
Buhari declined to sign an earlier Electoral Act amendment in 2018, and the 2019 general election was marred by vote-buying and violence in several states. However, he signed the Electoral Act 2022, which mandated the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results — reforms first used in the 2023 general election, widely seen as the most significant electoral legal reform in over a decade despite continued implementation gaps.
PLAC — Electoral Act 2022 analysis · updated February 2022
Each entry is one rated promise — follow it to that administration’s full scorecard. Ratings use the four verdicts defined in the methodology.