When Umaru Yar’Adua was sworn in as Nigeria’s new president in May, one of his main promises was to review the flawed electoral process that swept him to power in a landslide victory. The elections were the third held consecutively in Nigeria – a record for a country used to military rule – but the organisation of the polls and the rigging that followed were by most accounts worse than previous occasions.

Before the election took place the voter registration exercise stalled a number of times amid infighting within the electoral commission, allegations of corruption and serious logistical hitches. This resulted in patchy coverage.