The African Union (AU) mission which inspected the general elections in Nigeria last Saturday said the polls took place in a “transparent and peaceful environment” despite some “isolated incidents”, but said regretted the low participation of women candidates and many delays.
“The mission noted that despite the difficult economic, operational and security environment, the elections were generally well administered in a transparent and peaceful environment,” said the former Kenyan president and chief AU election observer. in Nigeria, Uhuru Kenyatta, in a press release published today on the site of the pan-African organization.
However, Kenyatta regretted that up to 83% of polling stations inspected by AU teams opened with delays “due to the late arrival of electoral officials and voting materials, as well as the slow of the installation” of the technology designed to prevent possible irregularities.
Furthermore, he lamented the low number of women candidates who participated in the elections, despite the fact that 47.5% of the more than 93.4 million voters registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) are women.
“There was only one candidate at the presidential level. And only 8.4% and 9.2% of the candidates for the positions of the Senate (Upper House) and the House of Representatives (Lower House) were women” , we read in the preliminary draft. AU report.
Another issue that hampered the vote was a “cash crisis” produced by the Nigerian government’s decision to replace some naira banknotes, which became worthless on February 10, just a fortnight before the election, with new ones.
“While the positive spirit of the naira overhaul was recognised, the mission noted that the timing of its implementation had an impact on the economy, as well as on INEC logistics operations, the election campaign and election observation, among others,” Kenyatta said.
The AU report was released amid complaints from some opposition parties, who rejected early election results because electronic transmission of polling station tallies could not be completed, after which the CENI alleged “technical problems”.
Kenyatta, for his part, urged “all interested parties to remain committed to the rule of law and democratic principles until the conclusion of the (electoral) process”, as well as to “use the legally established channels” to express their grievances.
The discontent of opponents was added this Monday by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007), who asked the incumbent President, Muhammadu Buhari, to cancel the elections and repeat them, and questioned the authenticity of the results provided so far by the CENI, which places the official candidate in the lead.
Eighteen candidates are running in the presidential race, but polls have indicated that only three have a chance of winning: Bola Tinubu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government; Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labor Party.
The next president of the country must obtain, in addition to the majority of the votes, more than a quarter of the votes cast in at least two thirds of the Nigerian states.
Buhari’s successor will inherit a nation plagued by growing insecurity in parts of the country, with constant attacks from criminal gangs who kidnap civilians for lucrative ransom, jihadist groups and pro-independence rebels.
It will also have to deal with the devaluation of the naira, runaway inflation and high unemployment, as Nigeria stands out as Africa’s top oil producer and the continent’s largest economy.