Nigerians eagerly awaited Sunday the first results of the presidential election in the most populous country in Africa, which arouses immense hope despite fears of fraud, and whose outcome promises to be very tight between three candidates.
More than 87 million voters were called on Saturday to choose from 18 candidates the man who will have the heavy task for four years of restoring Nigeria, weighed down by a flagging economy, recurrent violence by armed groups and bandits, as well as generalized impoverishment of the population.
The vote took place generally calmly, despite a few security incidents and logistical hiccups, which caused delays. The counting operations continued until late at night, in the presence of many voters determined to “protect” their vote.
“We are eager to know the result because this election will determine the future and the unity of Nigeria,” exclaims Yusufu Eshinuku, an entrepreneur on a street in Lagos, the economic capital. “The next president will have a lot of work.”
The results will be officially announced state by state from 6:00 p.m. local time, according to the chairman of the National Electoral Commission (Inec), Mahmood Yakubu, during a press briefing in Abuja. The Republic of Nigeria has 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Data collected from the roughly 176,000 polling stations was supposed to flow faster in Abuja thanks to new technologies being tested for the first time in a nationwide election.
But the electronic transfer and publication of the results took a long time on Saturday and Sunday, stoking fears of vote manipulation, as previous polls have been marred by accusations of fraud.
“Let Nigeria decide,” Burna Boy, Nigerian music star, wrote on Twitter, challenging the Electoral Commission. This Grammy winner gave them a warning: “Don’t try to make magic with the results”.
” It’s my turn “
At 3:30 p.m. Sunday, at a collection center in Port Harcourt (south-east), electoral agents continued to send the results, many hours after the end of the counting.
The evening before, in several offices across the country, crowds of voters were filming the counts live at night with their smartphones, counting the ballots aloud with the electoral agents, in a festive atmosphere.
An unprecedented situation since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria could experience a two-round presidential election if Peter Obi, who has succeeded in establishing himself as a serious adversary against the two parties traditionally dominating Nigerian politics, transforms the test into the urns.
The former governor of Anambra (south-east), a 61-year-old Christian supported by the small Labor Party (LP) and very popular with young people, faces two veterans experienced in the exercise of power.
Bola Tinubu, 70, represents President Muhammadu Buhari’s APC, which is stepping down as required by the Constitution after two terms with a much criticized record. Considered one of the most influential men in the country, this former governor of Lagos, a Yoruba of Muslim faith, warned: this time, “it’s my turn”.
At 76, former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, from the opposition (PDP, in power from 1999 to 2015), will run for the presidency for the sixth time. Originally from the north and of the Muslim faith, he hopes to win many votes in this part of the country.
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.
Undermine trust
The Yiaga Africa observer group (more than 3,800 across the country), is concerned that the delays and scrambles documented so far will “undermine public confidence”.
And warns the Commission: “if the official results are manipulated at any time during the process, we will be able to reveal it”.
This election is crucial: Nigeria – 216 million inhabitants – should become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, while West Africa is threatened by a strong democratic decline and the spread of jihadist violence.
The continent’s leading economy has become a global cultural power, thanks in particular to Afrobeats, a musical genre that is setting the planet on fire with stars like Burna Boy.
But in the face of immense daily hardships, compounded by recent shortages, many Nigerians are calling for “change”, sickened by decades of poor governance and an aging, notoriously corrupt elite.