Nigeria’s political parties, civil society groups, and international observers have slammed the country’s electoral commission for failing to manage this weekend’s elections, as the wait for presidential election results continues three days after ballots were cast.
Results from nearly 177,000 polling stations across Nigeria were supposed to be uploaded immediately on Saturday after results were collated under a new system aimed at increasing transparency.
However, as of Tuesday morning, well after the polls had closed, only about a third of the results are available on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s online portal.
According to the EU observer mission, the INEC’s lack of efficient planning in critical stages and effective public communication lowered trust in the process. Thabo Mbeki, the head of the Commonwealth observer mission, also criticised the election body.
According to Nigerian civil society groups, INEC officials arrived late in a few states, and the biometric accreditation system, which uses fingerprints and facial recognition, did not work properly in some cases.
The electoral commission declared some results inconclusive due to discrepancies.
INEC has apologised for the delays, citing difficulties in scaling up the system that was trialled in two state elections last year. Delays and violence marred the weekend’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
On Saturday, armed men opened fire on a polling station in Lagos’ Surulere district, sending voters fleeing for safety. The attackers stole the presidential ballot box. Disturbances have also been reported in Kogi, Edo, and Borno.
Peter Obi surprisingly won Lagos, the country’s economic powerhouse and the home state of his main rival. Obi of the Labour Party defeated Bola Tinubu of the ruling party, a former Lagos governor who had made the state the centrepiece of his presidential campaign.