Nigeria’s recently concluded presidential election was flawed and mismanaged, Financial Times says.
This is one of the several local and international bodies that have given their comment on the recently concluded presidential election in Nigeria.
The election that produced Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as president-elect was monitored by different Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), journalists and other bodies.
In an editorial, the London-based publication said the results of the election failed to pass the basic message of democracy; that a nation can choose its leaders.
“The election – which appears to have delivered the presidency to Bola Tinubu, a wealthy political fixer running for the incumbent All Progressives Congress – was badly mismanaged at best.
“It failed to set the example needed for west Africa, a region where too many national leaders have extended term limits or resorted to seizing power at gunpoint.
“Nigeria remains a democracy, but only just,” the editorial reads.
Also, the magazine notes that President Muhammadu Buhari failed to deliver on his promise of a free and fair election.
Buhari with this election “had staked what remains of his tattered reputation on a clean contest”, but the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to deliver.
Challenges Of The Presidential Polls
Every election held in Nigeria in the past have been marred by seven challenges and the 2023 election was not without its own.
Beyond Voter Apathy
Furthermore, the Financial Times cited voter suppression, ballot snatching, and technology mishaps as reasons for a “failed” electoral process.
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The editorial said results from the election were worrying especially as Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), brought hope to a country “teetering on the edge of catastrophe, with a breakdown of security and an almost total absence of growth”.
“INEC badly misfired. Voting started late in many districts, depriving millions of the right to vote.
“The system to upload results from 177,000 polling stations stuttered, causing legitimate concerns of vote tampering during long delays,” Financial Times notes.
According to the paper, what was more worrying was voter turnout, “which was pitifully low at 27%.
“If official results are right, two-thirds of the 87mn people who lined up for hours to collect their voter registration cards failed to cast their ballot. Apathy cannot explain it.
“Something, including the possibility of widespread voter suppression, must have prevented them from voting.
“Total turnout of 25mn votes in a country of 220mn people is unacceptably low.
“Tinubu’s tally of 8.8mn gives him the weakest of mandates.”
The editorial urged Nigeria’s judiciary to take a “long hard look” at the election should Obi and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) decide to pursue their claims of rigging in court.
Favouring this editorial’s perspective, Obi and Atiku have expressed their intention to contest the electoral body’s declaration of Tinubu as president-elect in court.
