the opposition calls for the “cancellation” of the presidential election and denounces “massive” fraud

The two main opposition parties in Nigeria called on Tuesday, February 28, for the cancellation of the presidential election held three days earlier. They denounce “massive manipulation” results which for the moment give a slight lead to Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling party, the APC, according to a still partial count.

More than 87 million voters voted on Saturday to choose from 18 candidates, the person who will have the difficult task of redressing the most populous country in Africa, weighed down by a sagging economy and recurrent violence by armed groups and bandits. . Following delays in the count, and major failures in the electronic transfer of results, the opposition accused the ruling party, the APC, of ​​fraud. Several observers also expressed concerns about the transparency of the ballot.

Ruling party accuses opposition of ‘undermining’ democracy

Before the resumption of the count on Tuesday, on its third day, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labor Party (LP) denounced “a simulacrum” of election. “We have totally lost faith in the whole process”they said at a joint press conference, demanding his “immediate cancellation” and holding a “new vote”. For its part, the APC in return accused the opposition of wanting “undermine” democracy, because it “realizes that she has lost”.

Bola Tinubu, of the APC, is currently in the lead with more than 4.1 million votes, against 3 million votes for Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party. The outsider of this presidential Peter Obi, whose popularity with young people, who see him as honest and competent, took everyone by surprise, has so far obtained 1.6 million votes. The official results only concern for the time being 14 States out of the 36 of the country, to which is added the federal capital Abuja.