Nigeria’s opposition parties urged the nation’s election commission to immediately release results from Saturday’s vote to reduce chances of the outcome being compromised.
(Bloomberg) —
Nigeria’s opposition parties urged the nation’s election commission to immediately release results from Saturday’s vote to reduce chances of the outcome being compromised.
Polling stations were supposed to transmit the counts as soon as they were tallied, but the Independent National Electoral Commission had published results from less than a quarter of them by 4 p.m. local time.
“It will be a disservice to Nigerians and a negation to democracy for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes,” Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said in a statement.
Result Announcement to Start at 6 p.m. (Feb. 26, 1:30 p.m.)
The electoral body will start announcing the election results from 6 p.m on Sunday, its chairman Mahmood Yakubu said. Tallies from officials in 36 states and the federal capital territory are being awaited before the media can be briefed, he said.
The results will be announced intermittently through the night until a winner is announced.
Miscreants Destroy Ballot Boxes (Feb. 26, 11:38 a.m.)
Ballot boxes and other election material were destroyed by criminals at some polling stations, including one in an area south of the capital, Abuja.
That prompted officials to upload a note to say the “election was declared not contested,” instead of sending the results to the INEC website.
Infighting in Rivers State Ruling Party May Help Obi (Feb. 25, 6:26 p.m.)
Infighting between leaders of the PDP, which rules the biggest state in Nigeria’s oil-producing region, is likely to help Peter Obi, the upstart Labour Party’s presidential aspirant.
Nyesom Wike, the outgoing state governor, refused to back Abubakar, despite the two belonging to the same party. Abubakar’s supporters accused Wike of undermining their campaign and secretly backing ruling-party nominee Bola Tinubu in the race. The governor denied the allegations.
“All I can say is it’s to our advantage,” said Beatrice Itubu, who is running on Labour’s ticket to succeed Wike as governor.
Billionaire Dangote Lauds Turnout (Feb. 25, 5:13 p.m.)
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, said the election turnout was the highest he’d seen in more than two decades.
“The turnout is very, very impressive,” he told Channels TV after voting in the commercial hub, Lagos. “I’ve been voting since 1999 when we returned to democracy and this time around I’ve seen much more than the usual times.”
Dangote’s comments echo similar statements made by World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Voting Draws to Close, Ballot Count Begins (Feb. 25, 4:28 p.m.)
Nigeria’s electoral commission ruled out extending the time for citizens to cast their ballots, saying polling stations wouldn’t accept those who arrived after 2:30 p.m. local time on Saturday. That’s despite countrywide delays and some polling stations not opening until hours after the official start time.
By 4:30 p.m. officials were done counting ballots at some sites, while others had hundreds of people in line waiting to cast theirs.
President Buhari Reveals Vote (Feb. 25, 3 p.m.)
Video footage showed outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari presenting his ballot paper to onlookers in the northern Katsina state. A statement emailed by Buhari’s spokesman confirmed he had “displayed” the document with a “thumb print” for Tinubu before depositing it in a ballot box.
The West African nation’s electoral law requires a secret ballot, saying no-one should “communicate at any time to any other person information obtained in a polling unit as to the candidate to whom a voter is about to vote or has voted for.”
Violators are liable to receive a 100,000-naira ($217) fine or a three-month prison sentence. It’s unclear whether the provision applies to those who reveal their own votes.
–With assistance from Mike Cohen.
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