Niger’s electoral register is good enough to enable the country to go ahead with an election on Feb. 21 as long as certain changes are made, the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF) has recently said in a report.
The changes include getting rid of around 300 ‘ghost’ polling stations and 25,000 voters who have been counted twice, said the organization.
In December, the opposition rejected the register, or list of eligible voters, saying the process did not meet their demands.
The government agreed to the demand for an audit in a bid to ensure a transparent election but the opposition then withdrew from the panel selecting a firm to carry out the review, saying no satisfactory candidate had been found.
“The electoral register submitted for our checks may be used but … on condition that the following recommendations are put into practice,” said SiakaSangare, head of the OIF commission of experts which reviewed the register.
All sides including the electoral authority welcomed the report.
“We think we can move forward with transparent elections,” said OusseiniSalatou, an opposition spokesman.
