Nigeria election results 2023: Opposition PDP and Labour Party accuse APC and Inec
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Loading... - jamie harper
- 28 Feb 2023
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Opposition parties have walked out of the venue where results from Nigeria's tightly contested presidential elections are being announced.
The main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party have claimed there is a lack of transparency with the new electronic voter system.
This is the first national election where an electronic device has been used to accredit voters.
The election commission has denied the opposition parties' complaints.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) chairman Mahmood Yakubu said the announcement of results would continue.
The PDP representative at the election centre in Abuja described the process as fraudulent, and accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of colluding with Inec, while the Labour Party asked for the announcements to be suspended, or for the election to be cancelled and rerun.
The APC, whose candidate Bola Tinubu has established an early lead from results announced so far, said those dissatisfied with the results should go to court, and that the parties should first let the process run its course.
With about a third of the 36 states officially declared, Mr Tinubu has 44% of votes cast, ahead of Mr Abubakar on 33%, and Mr Obi on 18%. However, many of the results yet to come are from the north and south-east, seen as strongholds of the PDP and Labour Party respectively, so the final outcome remains unpredictable.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the PDP have dominated Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999 but this time, Mr Obi from the previously little known Labour Party is expected to mount a strong challenge to the two-party system. He has the support of many young people, who make up a third of registered voters. There are 15 other candidates.
A candidate needs to have the most votes and a quarter of ballots cast in 25 of the 36 states plus Abuja to be declared the winner. Read More…
