In 2003, Nigeria held a National Assembly election on 12 April, Presidential and Gubernatorial elections on 19 April, and State Houses of Assembly elections on 3 May (Human Rights Watch June 2004; EU 2003).

Opposition parties claimed that the election had been "stolen" by the incumbent People's Democratic Party (CNN 22 Apr. 2003; Newswatch 5 May 2003). Some international observers expressed concern over irregularities in the voting process (ibid.; The News 5 May 2003).

In its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003, the US Department of State reported that "international and domestic observers stated [that the elections] were marred by serious irregularities and fraud, including political violence" (25 Feb. 2004). Human Rights Watch (HRW) indicated that it also felt that Nigeria's elections in 2003 were affected by serious incidents of violence (HRW June 2004).

No information was found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate regarding violence in Ogun specifically nor between members of the AD and the PDP.

In the Gubernatorial election of 19 April 2003, the incumbent governor of Ogun, Olusegun Osoba of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) was defeated by Otunba Gbenga Daniel of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) (Newswatch 5 May 2003; The News 5 May 2003; This Day 21 Apr. 2003). Several incumbent members of the AD in the State House of Assembly were defeated by members of the PDP who won 25 out of the 26 available seats (ibid. 5 May 2003).

No information was found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate regarding state protection for members of the PDP (the ruling party) who may have been threatened by members of the AD.

Regarding state protection for PDP members, HRW reported that most election violence was perpetuated by supporters of the PDP (June 2004; ibid. Dec. 2003). In addition, most of the people arrested before the elections were supporters of other political parties, most notably the All Nigeria People's Party (AANP), the United Nigeria People's Party (UNPP) and the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) (HRW June 2004; ibid. Dec. 2003). HRW indicated that harassment of supporters of opposition parties continued after the elections (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

CNN. 22 April 2003. "Incumbent Obasanjo Declared Winner in Nigeria: Opposition Refuses to Endorse Results of Presidential Vote." http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/04/22/nigeria.election/ [Accessed 8 June 2004]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2003. 25 February 2004. United States Department of State. Washington, DC. "Nigeria." http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27743.htm [Accessed 15 June 2004]

European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission Nigeria. 2003. "Final Report on the National Assembly, Presidential, Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly Elections." http://www.eueomnigeria.org/docs/Nigeria%20Election%202003%20EU%20Election%20Final%20Report.pdf [Accessed 16 June 2004]

Human Rights Watch (HRW). June 2004. "Nigeria's 2003 Elections: The Unacknowledged Violence." http://hrw.org/reports/2004/nigeria0604/nigeria0604.pdf [Accessed 8 June 2004]

_____. December 2003. Vol. 15, No. 19 (A). "Renewed Crackdown on Freedom of Expression." http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/nigeria1203/2.htm [Accessed 10 June 2004]

The News [Lagos] 5 May 2003. Henry Ugbolue and Richard Elesho. "PDP Under Fire." http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200305050314.html [Accessed 16 June 2004]

Newswatch [Lagos]. 5 May 2003. Olu Ojewale. "Controversial Victory." http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200305050369.html [Accessed 8 June 2004]

This Day [Lagos]. 5 May 2003. Toba Suleiman. "Ogun AD Assembly Leaders Crash Out." http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200305050227.html [Accessed 8 June 2004]

_____. 21 April 2003. Toba Suleiman. "Osoba Loses to Daniel in Ogun." http://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200304210295.html [Accessed 8 June 2004]

Internet sources: Advocacy Project, Africa Action, Africa Master web, Africa South of the Sahara, AllAfrica.com, Carter Center, Centre for Democracy and Development, Commonwealth Observer Group, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Online Nigeria, Sunday Times (South Africa), US Africa online.