Ahead of the declaration of the results of tightly contested presidential elections in Nigeria, the opposition parties, Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have claimed lack of transparency in the results. This is the first national election where an electronic voting machine was used to cast votes in Nigeria.
PDP has pointed out issues related to the new electronic voter system, while the Labour Party is demanding the suspension of the announcements or for the election to be rerun. A PDP representative at an election center in Abuja also declared the system as fraudulent.
The opposition have alleged that the ruling party All Progressive Congress and Independent National Electoral Commission are colluding with each other to compromise the electoral process. The election commission, however, has denied the complaints of the opposition party.
With one its candidates, Bola Tinubu, establishing an early lead, APC has expressed that those dissatisfied with the results should approach the court. The ruling party is also suggesting that the process be completed, as results from the north and south-east have not been declared so far.
Since these regions are strongholds of PDP and the Labour Party respectively, the final outcome remains unpredictable. The All Progressive Congress and the PDP have been strong contenders and rivals of each other since 1999. However, this time, Mr. Obi of the Labour Party has emerged as a strong contender with the support of one-third of the voting youth. There are 15 other candidates participating in the election.
It is necessary to win most of the votes and a quarter of ballots in 25 of the 36 states, in addition to Abuja, for a candidate to be declared a winner. Mr. Obi has emerged victorious in the biggest city of Nigeria, Lagos, heartland of Mr. Tinubu, who was hoping to use his record as former governor as the basis for his presidential bid.
Source Credit: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64783411