Nigeria’s election chief Attahiru Jega has promised his nation’s April elections will see the problems of the past “brought down to the barest manageable levels.” However, his staff has other worries.
Employees of the Independent National Electoral Commission asked Jega on Thursday for life insurance and police protection without having to pay bribes ahead of the oil-rich nation’s elections.
Nigerians will vote April 9 in a crucial presidential election, with two other elections that month for state and federal positions.
Jega, a university professor with popular appeal, faces a tough challenge as Nigeria’s election chief.
Polls in the country have been marred by rigging, intimidation and violence since the nation become a democracy more than a decade ago.