Electoral Commissions and Nigerian Elites

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 5 examines the consequences of electoral commission (EC) autonomy and capacity on the election-related attitudes and behaviour of political elites in Nigeria. The chapter fills the gaps in our understanding of how elites formulate their attitudes towards ECs and the quality of elections by leveraging an original post-election survey of parliamentary candidates who participated in Nigeria’s 2019 elections. The chapter’s statistical analyses indicate that parliamentary candidates’ trust in Nigeria’s main EC (the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)), their perceptions of election quality, and losing candidates’ compliance with election outcomes depend crucially on the perceived autonomy of INEC senior staff in their respective states and constituencies, as well as the capacity of electronic voter-identification machines in their constituencies on election day. The chapter’s findings reinforce the importance of assessing the local dimensions of election administration and the salience of election technology to understand elites’ trust in elections.