Published on : 02/26/2023 – 07:34Modified : 02/26/2023 – 07:37
The counting operations continue Sunday in Nigeria, where a tight race opposes the three favorites to the presidential election on Saturday, which generally took place in calm despite some security incidents and logistical hiccups.
The counting and counting of the votes continues, Sunday, February 26, in Nigeria, the day after the presidential election. More than 87 million voters were called upon to choose from among 18 candidates the person who will have the difficult task for four years of redressing the most populous country in Africa, weighed down by a flagging economy, recurrent violence by armed groups and bandits, as well as a general impoverishment of the population.
Like Juliette Ogbonda, many voters stayed to count aloud as poll workers counted the ballots after dark. “I want to make sure that this election is transparent, free and fair,” explained the 30-year-old receptionist in Port Harcourt (southeast).
Among the candidates running, three are favourites: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, candidate of the ruling party (APC), Atiku Abubakar, of the main opposition party (PDP), and Peter Obi, supported by the Labor Party.
To be elected in the first round, the winner must obtain, in addition to the majority of the votes cast, at least 25% of the votes in two thirds of the 36 states of the federation plus the territory of the federal capital, Abuja. Otherwise a second round should take place within 21 days.
Intimidation and violence
Data collected from the approximately 176,000 polling stations is expected to flow faster than in previous elections in Abuja thanks to the electronic transfer of results, which is being piloted nationwide for the first time.
But the ballot continued well after the official closing time – 2:30 p.m. local time – in several regions of the country, such as in Anambra (southeast) or Kano (north), where many voters continued to vote late in the day. the evening, mainly due to delays in the deployment of equipment or technical failures.
On the whole, the vote took place peacefully, according to several observers, even if the president of the Electoral Commission (Inec), Mahmood Yakubu, admitted that security incidents had “disrupted the vote” in several places, in particular in Lagos and in the southeast of the country. In the state of Bayelsa, the ballot was thus suspended in a hundred polling stations, and must resume on Sunday.
Analyst firm SBM Intelligence said it documented localized “acts of intimidation and violence” against voters or polling stations in at least 13 states during the day Saturday.
Participation, low in previous elections (33% in 2019) is another unknown. Inec did not specify when it would announce the results but they are expected in the coming days.
With AFP
Source: France 24
