Nigeria's Former INEC Boss Joins Mason as a Visiting Scholar

The former chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has joined George Mason University as a visiting scholar. Professor Jega, a scholar and practitioner of international politics and democracy, previously served as the Vice Chancellor of the Bayero University Kano. He was also a former National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Nigeria.

Among his recent accomplishments, Professor Jega successfully managed and transformed the complex Nigerian electoral system of 69 million registered voters, 155,000 polling booths, and 700,000 staff. The credibility and transparency of Nigeria’s 2011 and 2015 elections were attributed to his excellent leadership skills. Professor Jega is also the only chairman of INEC who has organized two national elections, the most recent resulting in Nigeria’s first democratic transfer of power to an opposition party.

Since the end of the 2015 election, the former INEC chairman has received many accolades and commendations, including  2015 Elections Commissioner of the Year Award given by the International Center for Parliamentary Studies (ICPS), and winner of the 2015 IFES Democracy Award among others. Before joining Mason, Prof. Jega left INEC in June 2015 at the end of his tenure, to return to his lecturing job at the Department of Political Science, Bayero University Kano. Now a visiting scholar, Professor Jega will spend six months at Mason working on a book project about his experience in the 2015 election.

The Nigeria team at Mason, led by Professor John Paden, Clarence Robinson Professor of International Studies, facilitated Professor Jega's fellowship. The other members of the Nigeria-Mason team include Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo, newly nominated OPEC Secretary General and also Mason visiting scholar; Ahmad Abubakar, Rice Fellow; and Ernest Ogbozor, PhD Candidate at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

### Photo Left to right: Dr. Barkindo, Professor Jega, Mr. Abubakar, Professor Paden, and Ernest Ogbozor by Ernest Ogbozor.