File: Peter Obi in Jigawa during the campaign
For the umpteenth time, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, has insisted that the last general elections were marked by allegations of fraud and irregularities.
Obi stated this in a series of posts via his X page, wondering why the election suffered technical glitches despite the huge money spent to conduct the exercise.
He tweeted: “Nigeria’s 2023 election, with less than 30% of voter turnout, over 60% of the polling stations starting late, and no diaspora voting, the elections were plagued by allegations of fraud and widespread irregularities, all forms of glitches, despite an enormous expenditure to the tune of about a billion dollars (direct allocation of =N=313 billion and donor agencies support),” he said.
Both Obi and Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, took their case to the Presidential Election Petition Court, PEPC, and lost in what many described as judicial bullying of the candidates and their lawyers by the presiding judges.
Obi while comparing Nigeria’s last general election to the recently conducted South African election, described the differences between the two elections as lamentable.
“The outcome of the recent South African election results remains a shining example of what a transparent and efficient democratic electoral process should look like.
“With about 60% Voter turnout, over 90% of polling open on time, allowing diaspora voting, the results and updates were real-time without any form of technical glitches during the election.
“This demonstrated the robustness and transparency of their system. The seamless online dissemination of results further highlights their commitment to democratic principles and technological advancement. This is in stark contrast, to the show of shame that the giant of Africa, Nigeria, gave the World in 2023.”
Obi called for urgent comprehensive electoral reforms to restore people’s confidence in the country’s democracy.
Political Economist NG recalls that Obi was regarded as a major contender in the election after his popularity soared by the Obedient Movement, an army of multi-faceted Nigerians from all over the world pushing for good governance and a new Nigeria.
