Three days after the 2023 presidential elections, Nigerians all over the world are holding their breath and clinging to the edge of their seats as they await the long overdue results.
Here’s all that has happened:
Contrary to what we thought, election results were uploaded manually
One of the measures put in place by the Independent Electoral Commission to ensure a smooth electoral process was the electronic transmission of results. But the spokesperson for INEC, Festus Okoye, released a report saying results from polling units would be electronically transmitted to IReV, but collations would be manual.
Also read: Can Nigerians Trust BVAS for the 2023 Elections?
Disparities between figures Nigerians recorded at their PUs and INEC’s
A lot of heat has come upon INEC for releasing falsified results. A spokesperson for the Obi-Datti presidential campaign council claimed that the presidential result from Ekiti state had been uploaded on February 20, five days before the elections.
But we fact-checked this, and our checks revealed the screenshot, which was trending on social media, was in fact fake.
Petition for the INEC’s Chairperson visa to be revoked
In the spirit of holding leaders accountable for their actions, Nigerians are dragging Mahmood Yakubu by his metaphorical shirt, and asking the UK, USA and Canada to revoke his visa for rigging Nigeria’s presidential election in favour of APC. The petition currently has over 285,600 signatories.
Rumours of a runoff election to determine the president
For a candidate to be declared President, they must have 25% of votes in 2/3rd of all the states, including the FCT, and also the highest number of votes. From the election polls, we’ve seen the four contending parties show strength in their different regions.
Banky W lost the Senatorial seat in Eti-Osa
Businessman and investor Thaddeus Attah, contesting under Labour Party, beat renowned singer and actor Bankole Wellington who contested under the People’s Democratic Party. Against speculations that he only won because of his party, some people have claimed he was absent from the TL because he was busy campaigning street-to-street.
Related: Who is Thaddeus Attah? The Man Who Beat Banky W in Eti-Osa
The European Union has dropped their two-cents
On February 27, 2023, the EU released an official statement saying that while the Nigeria presidential elections had gone on as planned, the lack of transparency and operational failures challenged the citizen’s right to vote. So even though our electoral commission failed to address the numerous allegations of violence and vote buying, the EU acknowledges this was far from a free and fair election.
Lagos state alleged dinner party
An invitation card began circulating the media in the earlier hours of Tuesday, February 28. And the event was allegedly between the executive governor of Lagos state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Igbo captains of industry, such as the Executive Chairman of Chisco group of companies, Chief Dr Chidi Anyaegbu and the Chairman/CEO of Air Peace, Mr Allen Onyema.
But the media aides of the Governor have since come on their platform to tag the flyer as fake news.
Get all the latest updates on the 2023 Presidential elections in one place.
