Opposition parties have boycotted the announcement of results of Nigeria’s hotly contested presidential elections.
The main opposition parties, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party, have alleged that the new computerized voting method lacks transparency.
In a national election, this is the first time that an electronic device has been used to verify voters.
The opposition parties’ concerns have been rejected by the election commission.
The results will continue to be announced, according to Mahmood Yakubu, head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
When the Labour Party called for the announcements to be suspended or for the poll to be canceled and repeated, the PDP delegate at the election center in Abuja branded the process as fraudulent and accused the current administration’s All Progressives Congress (APC) of working with Inec.
The APC stated that anyone who was unhappy with the results should go to court and that the parties should first let the process run its course. The APC’s nominee, Bola Tinubu, holds a commanding early lead based on the results so far disclosed.
As of the official declaration of nearly a third of the 36 states, Mr. Tinubu has received 47% of the votes cast, compared to 27% for Mr. Abubakar and 22% for Mr. Obi. So far, most of the results have come from Mr. Tinubu’s stronghold in the south-west, so the outcome is still unknown.
Since the end of military rule in 1999, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP have controlled Nigeria, but this time, Mr. Obi of the formerly unknown Labour Party is poised to make a significant challenge to the two-party system.
Young people, who make up a third of registered voters, support him in large numbers. There are 15 more applicants.
To be considered the winner, a candidate must get the most votes and at least a quarter of all the votes cast in 25 of the 36 states plus Abuja.
If not, there will be a run-off in 21 days, which is unprecedented in Nigerian history.
Mr. Obi pulled off a massive upset by defeating Mr. Tinubu by a razor-thin margin in Lagos, the capital of Nigeria.
The former Lagos State Governor, Mr. Tinubu, intends to base his presidential campaign on his performance there.
In Lagos, the candidate for the ruling party conceded defeat and claimed that, as a democrat, he was obligated to accept the results of any election.
In a statement sent by his campaign staff, he added, “People have a right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
After his defeat, he also pleaded with his fans to remain calm after hearing tales of violence in some areas of Lagos against Igbo traders like Mr. Obi.
Although a significant accomplishment for a third-party candidate, Mr. Obi’s victory in Lagos was not entirely unexpected. The city is home to a sizable Igbo population as well as a high number of young, educated people; all of these demographics are commonly perceived as supporting his campaign.
What is the electronic system’s problem?
Nigerians had been promised by INEC that the direct transmission of election results from polling places via the electronic voting technology known as Bvas would increase transparency.
However, some voters complained on Saturday that election officials were refusing to post the results at the polling places as they were required to.
Voters have posted videos and photographs where INEC authorities refused to publish the results, despite complaints from officials that there wasn’t enough internet in some locations to upload the results.
Mr. Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, has apologized for the commission’s inability to upload the majority of the results as promised, citing a spike in traffic as the source of the problems.