The International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) has named the immediate past Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, as one of the three recipients of its 2015 Charles T. Manatt Democracy Award.Also to be honoured are US House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Congressman Ed Royce (R-Calif.).
The award ceremony is scheduled for September 29 in Washington D.C.
Jega, according to IFES President and CEO Bill Sweeney, is being honoured for his handling of “Nigeria’s successful general elections in 2015.”
“He deserves full credit for his efforts to increase the credibility and transparency of the electoral process under extreme logistical challenges, such as terrorist threats from Boko Haram, where failure could prove the catalyst for predicted election violence,” Sweeney added.
Jega who has returned to teaching at the end of his tenure as INEC Chair said he is “deeply honoured to accept” the IFES award.
He spoke highly of IFES’ long-standing partnership with INEC in preparation for the general elections which he said “resulted in a credible process accepted by Nigerian citizens and the international community.”
“These elections have put Nigeria on the right path toward democratic stability,” he said.
IFES, one of the world’s leading democratic institutions, seeks to protect the ballot box in more than 145 countries of the world.
The Charles T. Manatt Democracy Awards are presented each year to a Democrat, a Republican and a member of the international community who demonstrate the dedication to democracy and human rights embodied by the award’s namesake, former IFES Board of Directors Chairman Charles T. Manatt. Past international recipients include Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (2014); former President of the Federal Electoral Institute of Mexico Dr. Leonardo Valdés Zurita (2013); Kenyan gender advocate Maimuna Mwidau (2012); South African Judge Johann Kriegler (2011); and former Lebanese Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ziad Baroud (2010).
