INTERPRETER
Voters and observer missions have pointed to the failure of the Election Commission and the violence at polling stations as the election results are awaited.
On February 25, millions of Nigerians in the 36 states and the federal capital of Abuja went to the polls to elect a new president and legislators for the two houses of the National Assembly.
Three days later, the results have yet to be announced and there is no indication when that will be.
Indeed, Al Jazeera verified that as of 10:54 am (09:54 GMT), only 46 percent or 81,569 result sheets from the 176,846 polling stations nationwide had been uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) portal. INEC reported results from just 14 states in Abuja.
There are also numerous allegations of voter suppression and intimidation, as well as outright manipulation in parts of the country.
Here’s more about the elections and things as they currently stand in Nigeria.
Which offices are eligible?
On February 25, the same day as the presidential election, elections were held for the 109 senatorial districts and 360 constituencies in Nigeria’s bicameral federal legislature.
On March 11, 28 of the 36 states will hold governorship and parliamentary elections.
Who is running for president?
Eighteen candidates contested the election, but the top four contenders are:
- Bola Tinubu, former two-term governor of Lagos and a major supporter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
- Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is running for the position for the sixth time.
- Peter Obi of the Labor Party (LP), two-time former Governor of Anambra.
- Rabiu Kwankwaso, ex-minister of defense and former governor of northern hub Kano, is on the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) ticket.
How do the elections work?
- To win the presidency, a candidate must receive the most votes and at least 25 percent of the votes cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states.
- If no candidate meets these criteria, a second round will be held within 21 days, with the top two candidates participating.
- INEC used the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to accredit voters using biometrics and upload results after physical ballots were used to cast votes.
Who leads the elections?
- The INEC Collection Center in Abuja requested results from only 19 states.
- Tinubu and Abubakar each lead in 7 states. Obi, leading in 4 states, and Kwankwaso, leading in 1 state, rank third and fourth, respectively.
- But Tinubu is leading in the popular vote so far, with a third of the total vote.
- Given the current results, it is still difficult to say whether a run-off could occur.
- But many voters, journalists and civil society experts across the country have expressed dismay at the conduct of the election, alleging widespread intimidation, repression and disenfranchisement of voters.
What went wrong?
- In some parts of the country, the vote had to be extended until Sunday after some problems.
- In some cases, INEC officials failed to show up or showed up without sufficient knowledge of the BVAS.
- At Awada Primary School in Onitsha, Al Jazeera on Saturday saw more than 1,000 people who had been waiting for hours — some as early as 7 a.m. — complaining about officials arriving a little after noon. Voting got off to a slow start after a Catholic priest who was also on hand to vote intervened and helped the officials.
- INEC has also been slow to upload results sheets from the polling stations to the server. This has led to concerns about the transparency of the elections.
- In a statement on Monday, the European Union Observer Mission said INEC “lacked efficient planning and transparency during critical stages of the election process”.
- On Election Day, the statement added, confidence in the Election Commission was further reduced due to “delayed election processes and information gaps related to long-awaited access to results on its Results Viewing Portal (IReV)”.
- There were also upload errors with the sheets. In some cases, Al Jazeera noticed a mismatch; for example, at a polling station in Ajah, Lagos, the uploaded sheet was for another in Lafia in Nasarawa, more than 925 km (574 mi) away.
Violence
There has been a long-standing pattern of violence in Nigeria’s elections, although the frequency and intensity of the events have always varied.
- Since Saturday, a number of young people have posted images on social media showing how the election process is being disrupted by attackers who are believed to be political supporters.
- Anietie Ewang, Nigerian researcher for Human Rights Watch, wrote in a comment on Monday that incidents of violence had been reported in Rivers, Kogi, Edo and Imo. “Elections should not be a risky affair where citizens like (Bina) Efidi risk their lives to vote and have a say in the future of their country,” she wrote, referring to the case of a young voter in Lagos who deep cuts around her. eye after unknown assailants hit her with a sharp object. The incident happened in Surulere, Lagos.
- In another Surulere voting unit, Emmanuel Akinwotu and Aanu Adeoye, West African correspondents for the Financial Times and NPR, were present when masked gunmen interrupted voting and took away the ballot box, firing as they entered and exited.
of @Tomsaater and edited by @TARANEILL . I didn’t realize I was still recording when they started firing, TW, gunfire is heard in the report #NigeriaDecides
— Emmanuel Akinwotu (@ea_akin) February 26, 2023
