Abuja, Nigaria – African Boulevard News The Nigerian presidential election has been marred by accusations of fraud and lack of transparency. Bola Tinubu, the candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), is currently leading in the polls with just over 44% of the votes counted so far. However, this has been met with controversy as both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party have claimed that the new electronic voter system is flawed and lacks transparency.
Peter Obi of the Labour Party caused an upset by defeating Tinubu in Lagos, the biggest city in Nigeria. He has gained close to 18% of the vote so far, and has promised to challenge the two-party system that has dominated Nigerian politics since the end of military rule in 1999. Obi has been able to garner support from many young voters, who make up a third of registered voters in the country.
Despite the controversy, the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) has denied the opposition parties’ complaints and announced that the announcement of results will continue. The European Union observers have criticized the electoral body’s poor planning and communication, which has undermined trust in the process.
It remains to be seen whether the winner will be able to meet the strict requirements needed to be declared the winner. A candidate needs to have the most votes and a quarter of ballots cast in 25 of the 36 states plus Abuja to be declared the winner. If those thresholds are not reached, there will be a second round run-off between the top two candidates.
The Nigerian people can only hope that the election process will run its course without further controversy and that the winner will be declared fairly. However, given the current state of affairs and the lack of trust in the electoral process, this seems unlikely.
