Violence, some technological glitches, malpractice and insecurity have overshadowed Nigeria’s election, which has been seen as the tightest since the end of military rule in 1999.
On Saturday, millions of people voted for the president as well as members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
More than 93 million people have registered to vote in Africa’s largest country by population – 219 million.
The main opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), alleged a plot by some governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stalling the collation of results in some northern states including Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Zamfara.
“This desperate governor is accused of forcing and blackmailing INEC [Independent National Electoral Commission] officials to falsify the results and transfer massive votes to PDP and presidential candidates, to APC rejected and presidential candidates,” PDP said.
Femi Fani-Kayode, the spokesperson of the APC presidential campaign, put it well, “While we wait for the results to be released by INEC, I can tell you that this is good for us.”
The Nigeria Police Force has expressed concern over the circulation of fake election results on social media and other news platforms, which it noted is contrary to INEC policies and guidelines.
“The police have seen this trend as an attempt to destabilize the government and possibly create post-election chaos,” said Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the national police spokesperson.
He said law enforcers consider this “disservice, unpatriotic and disinformation”.
“The Nigerian Police hereby warns those spreading these alleged/fake election results to desist from their misdeeds and wait patiently for INEC’s official results, which are genuine and actionable,” the police spokesman said.
Adejobi called for calm. He said the police force has re-implemented its security strategy for the smooth conduct of the general election.
The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), the umbrella body of registered parties, has been accused of irregularities and irregularities, including interference with the newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine.
The organization noted that INEC officials were accused of bypassing the use of BVAS machines for accreditation in some parts of the country, especially in the North East and North West, leading to allegations of thumb printing and stuffing of ballot boxes.
“Another very visible anomaly is in the viral video where underage voters in some states are seen thumbprinting their ballot papers in the north,” CNPP secretary general Willy Ezugwu said.
He also raised concerns about the use of violence to intimidate voters as well as allegations of vote buying in parts of the country during Saturday’s presidential and national elections.
The CNPP demanded that the electoral body use its powers under the law to annul the results of polling units where violence, vote buying or mass thumb printing of ballot papers were reported.
“The current delay in announcing the results of the presidential election has further fueled suspicions that INEC has ulterior motives or scripted actions to produce certain candidates instead of those chosen by Nigerians,” CNPP said.
Four candidates are front-runners in the race to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, president since 2015 but is ineligible due to term limits. These are Bola Tinubu of Buhari’s APC, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP as well as former PDP governors Rabiu Kwankwaso and Peter Obi of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and the Labor Party.
INEC postponed elections in Enugu East following the assassination of Labor Party senatorial candidate, Oyibo Chukwu. The poll has been rescheduled for March 11.
“We take full responsibility for the problem and regret the distress that they have caused candidates, political parties and the electorate,” said Festus Okoye, INEC chairman for information and voter education committee.
According to the Constitution, Buhari should transfer power on May 29, 29.
This story was first published by CAJ News.