On March 18, Julia Hedlund, IFES Program Manager, participated in a Congressional Research Service panel titled “Nigeria's 2011 Elections: Prospects and Challenges to a Credible Vote.”  In addition to Nigeria, Ms Hedlund’s portfolio at IFES also includes Liberia and Sierra Leone. 

The briefing was for Congressional staff interested in learning more about a series of elections coming up in Nigeria starting on April 2 when the country votes on the presidency.  Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and accounts for over half of the population in West Africa.  After the 2007 elections, according to the U.S. State Department, “U.S. and international observers reported overall a seriously flawed process with credible reports of malfeasance and vote rigging in some constituencies” as well as significant violence in some areas.  The goal of this panel was to look at prospects for the 2011 elections and to examine the implications of another seriously flawed process.  Opinions on the elections varied from “cautiously optimistic” to “cautiously pessimistic” with Ms. Hedlund stating that “the INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission] is seen as an honest broker by the people.” 

Other organizations participating included the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute, and Human Rights Watch.