Nigeria's opposition parties call for fresh elections, citing fraud and other discrepancies as the ruling party takes the lead. The People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party argued that the results of the elections were manipulated, demanding that a new election be organized.
The claim comes as Bola Tinubu, the candidate for the ruling party, was leading with roughly 40% of the vote based on data that officials have so far released.
Nigeria's 2023 Election
In a statement, the electoral commission, which is continuing with the release of the results, said that the opposition parties should take their complaints and file them in court. The PDP and the Labour Party became critical of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) regarding how it handled the electronic voting system in the country.
The chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, said that he was demanding for the "sham of an election" to be canceled. He and his colleagues were calling on Inec to conduct fresh elections within the timeframe provided under the electoral act, as per BBC.
On top of the two opposition parties, the small African Democratic Congress (ADC) also supported the call for fresh elections. On the other hand, Tinubu's campaign team called out the demands and condemned the opposition parties' attempt to undermine the electoral process.
In a statement, he said that lawmakers did not have any moral right to enjoy the fruits of victory if they were not prepared to accept the shock of defeat. He faced off against the PDP's Atiku Abubakar and the Labour Party's Peter Obi.
Officials have released the final tally of votes from 20 of the nation's 36 states, placing Abubakar in second place, with roughly 30% of the total votes. On the other hand, Obi came in third with nearly 24% of the total votes.
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Plagued by Controversies
In a joint statement, the opposition parties said they would no longer be part of the ongoing collation process in the capital Abuja. According to CNN, officials added that the situation has caused them to lose confidence in the electoral body Chairman Mahmood Yakubu.
The parties said they were calling on the international community, claiming the election results were heavily doctored and manipulated. Controversies have hounded the recent Nigerian elections, and some members of opposition parties walked out of the collation center on Monday as results were being announced.
Furthermore, several observers, including the European Union, have argued that the country's election needs to catch up to expectations due to a lack of transparency. In a statement, a joint observer mission of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and National Democratic Institute (NDI) said that the process fell short of the expectations of Nigeria's people.
The election included roughly 90 million Nigerians eligible to vote, many of whom were hoping that a new leader would do a much better job tackling various issues, including insecurity, economic malaise, and growing poverty that citizens have been suffering from, said Al Jazeera.
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