According to state election officials, a third-party candidate in Nigeria’s hotly contested presidential election has caused a major upset by winning in the country’s largest city, Lagos.
According to reports, Labour Party candidate Peter Obi narrowly defeated ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu in his heartland.
Mr. Tinubu is a former governor of Lagos state who hopes to run for president on the strength of his record there.
The outcome must still be confirmed by the head of the election commission.
Mr. Tinubu, on the other hand, has accepted defeat in Lagos, claiming that as a Democrat, he is obligated to accept the outcome of any election.
“People have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice,” he said in a campaign statement.
He also urged his supporters to remain calm in the aftermath of his defeat, citing reports of violence in parts of Lagos against Igbo traders such as Mr. Obi.
Mr. Obi’s apparent victory in Lagos, while significant for a third-party candidate, is not entirely unexpected. The city is home to many young, educated people, as well as a sizable Igbo population, all of whom are widely perceived to support his campaign.
Mr. Tinubu has however won five other states in his south-western strongholds – Ekiti, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, and Oyo.
While Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has won Osun state, his home state of Adamawa, as well as Katsina, where outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari comes from. He has also won in the south-eastern Akwa-Ibom state.
The results from Ekiti, Kwara, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo have been confirmed by the head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) at its headquarters in the capital, Abuja, however, the other results remain provisional.
But with 26 states and the capital, Abuja, still, to declare, it remains far too soon who might be elected Nigeria’s next president.
Amnesty International has urged Nigerian authorities to investigate what it calls widespread violence against voters in Lagos, Rivers, Kano, Edo, and Delta states over the weekend.
“Those responsible for attacks on voters, journalists, and election officials must face justice in fair trials,” the group said.
The delay in receiving results has increased frustration.
The electoral commission has apologized for the inactivity of its website’s results viewing the page, blaming it on a surge in traffic.
The delays are caused in part by the election continuing for a second day in some areas of the country.
On Saturday, voting began several hours late in many areas, and there were also attacks on some polling stations.
More than 87 million people were eligible to participate, making it Africa’s largest democratic exercise.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have dominated Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999, but Mr. Obi of the previously unknown Labour Party is expected to mount a strong challenge to the two-party system this time. He has the backing of many young people, who account for one-third of registered voters. There are 15 other strong candidates.
To be declared the winner, a candidate must receive the most votes and a quarter of all ballots cast in 25 of the 36 states plus Abuja.
Otherwise, a run-off election will be held within 21 days, a first in Nigerian history.
Problems with the electronic voter system
In the previous two elections, the winner was announced on the third day after voting, but many expected a faster conclusion this time due to the introduction of an electronic result transmission system known as Bvas.
This was done to increase transparency and ensure that the results could not be tampered with by creating a digital version on the electoral commission’s website, Inec.
However, many voters have accused electoral officials of failing to upload the results at polling stations as required.
Officials complained about a lack of internet in some areas, but voters shared videos and images of places where Inec officials refused to upload the results.
The PDP has stated that it wishes to see results from all polling stations displayed at the collation center in Abuja.
According to Dino Melaye, the party’s representative at the Inec headquarters in Abuja, the electoral law requires Inec to transmit the results to its website via the electronic device used to accredit voters on election day.
“We are not here to rubberstamp fraud,” he argued angrily as the Inec chairman and others looked on.
There have also been reports of disruptions at Inec collation centers in some states, with some political parties urging supporters to go to such locations to protect their votes on Sunday.
