Voters and observer missions have highlighted failures of the electoral fee and violence at polling models as election outcomes are awaited.
On February 25, hundreds of thousands of Nigerians went to the polls throughout its 36 states and the federal capital, Abuja, to elect a brand new president and lawmakers to the 2 homes of the Nationwide Meeting.
Three days later, the outcomes are but to be introduced and there's no indication of when that might be.
Certainly, Al Jazeera verified that as of 10:54 am (09:54 GMT), solely 46 p.c or 81,569 consequence sheets of the 176,846 polling models nationwide, had been uploaded to the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee’s (INEC) portal. In Abuja, INEC introduced outcomes from solely 14 states.
There have additionally been quite a few allegations of voter suppression and intimidation, in addition to outright rigging in elements of the nation.
Right here is extra in regards to the election and issues as they at the moment stand in Nigeria.
What workplaces are up for the vote?
Elections had been held for the 109 senatorial districts and 360 constituencies in Nigeria’s bicameral federal legislature on February 25, the identical day because the presidential election.
On March 11, 28 of the 36 states will maintain the governorship and state parliament elections.
Who's working for the presidency?
Eighteen candidates ran within the election however the prime 4 contenders are:
- Bola Tinubu, a two-term former governor of Lagos and a serious stalwart of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
- The Folks’s Democratic Get together’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, a former vp, gunning for the place for a file sixth time.
- The Labour Get together’s (LP) Peter Obi, a two-time former governor of Anambra.
- Rabiu Kwankwaso, ex-defence minister and former governor of the northern hub Kano, is on the New Nigerian Folks’s Get together (NNPP) ticket.
How do the elections work?
- To win the presidency, a candidate should get essentially the most votes and win a minimum of 25 p.c of votes solid in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states.
- If no candidate meets these standards, a run-off might be held inside 21 days, with the highest two candidates collaborating.
- INEC used the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to accredit voters utilizing biometrics, and add outcomes after bodily poll papers had been used to solid votes.
Who's main the election?
- On the INEC collation centre in Abuja, outcomes have been referred to as from solely 19 states.
- Tinubu and Abubakar are every main in 7 states. Obi, main in 4 states, and Kwankwaso, main in 1 state are in third and fourth locations respectively.
- Given the present outcomes, it's nonetheless onerous to inform whether or not a run-off might occur.
- However many citizens, journalists and civil society consultants nationwide have expressed dissatisfaction with the conduct of the elections, alleging widespread voter intimidation, suppression and disenfranchisement.
What has gone improper?
- Voting needed to be prolonged into Sunday in a number of elements of the nation after some glitches.
- In some circumstances, INEC officers didn't present up or confirmed up with out adequate information of the BVAS.
- On the Awada Major Faculty in Onitsha on Saturday, Al Jazeera watched as greater than 1,000 individuals who had been ready for hours – some since 7am – complain about officers arriving slightly after midday. Voting started slowly after a Catholic priest who was additionally there to vote, intervened and aided the officers.
- INEC has additionally been gradual to add consequence sheets from the polling models to the server. This has led to issues in regards to the transparency of the elections.
- In an announcement on Monday, the European Union observer mission mentioned INEC “lacked environment friendly planning and transparency throughout essential levels of the electoral course of”.
- On election day, the assertion added, belief within the electoral fee was lowered additional due to “delayed polling processes and data gaps associated to a lot anticipated entry to outcomes on its Outcomes Viewing Portal (IReV)”.
- There have been additionally importing errors with the sheets. In some circumstances, Al Jazeera seen that there was a mismatch; as an illustration, at one polling unit in Ajah, Lagos, the uploaded sheet was for an additional in Lafia in Nasarawa, greater than 925km (574 miles) away.
Violence
There's a long-running sample of violence in Nigeria’s elections, though the frequency and depth of the occasions have all the time different.
- Since Saturday, quite a lot of younger individuals posted footage on social media displaying the disruption of the electoral course of by teams of attackers believed to be political supporters.
- Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher of the Human Rights Watch wrote in a observe on Monday that there have been reported incidents of violence in Rivers, Kogi, Edo, and Imo. “Elections shouldn't be a dangerous affair the place residents like [Bina] Efidi put their lives in danger to vote and have a say of their nation’s future,” she wrote, referencing the case of a younger voter in Lagos who suffered deep cuts round her eye after unknown attackers struck her with a pointy object. The incident occurred in Surulere, Lagos.
- In one other Surulere polling unit, Emmanuel Akinwotu and Aanu Adeoye, West Africa correspondents of the Monetary Instances and NPR had been current when masked gunmen interrupted the voting and made away with the poll field, taking pictures as they entered and exited.
with @Tomsaater and edited by @TARANEILL . I didn’t realise I used to be nonetheless recording after they began taking pictures, TW, gunshots are heard within the report #NigeriaDecideshttps://t.co/R3w9Xxhobi
— Emmanuel Akinwotu (@ea_akin) February 26, 2023
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