According to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the polls for 2023, there were many accusations of fraud and anomalies during the previous general elections.
In a series of posts on his X page, Obi made this statement and emphasized that the election was plagued by irregularities even though a significant sum of money was spent on the process. “Despite an enormous expenditure to the tune of about a billion dollars (direct allocation of =N=313 billion and donor agencies support), Nigeria’s 2023 election was beset by allegations of fraud and widespread irregularities, all forms of glitches, and less than 30% of voters turned out to cast their ballots, with over 60% of polling stations starting late and no diaspora voting,” he said.
Allegations of fraud and severe anomalies, including malfunctions, dogged the elections despite massive expenditures totaling approximately $1 billion (direct appropriation of $313 billion plus support from donor agencies).
The former governor of Anambra State made a seamless and transparent comparison between the recent general election in South Africa and the last general election in Nigeria.
The LP candidate finds it regrettable that the election systems in the two nations diverge from one another. “The outcomes of the most recent election in South Africa continue to be a brilliant model of what an open and effective democratic political process should resemble. “About 60% of voters cast ballots, over 90% of polls opened on schedule, enabling absentee voting, and real-time results and updates throughout the election without any technical issues.
This illustrated their system’s resilience and openness. The smooth online results distribution further demonstrates their dedication to both technological innovation and democratic ideals. This stands in stark contrast to the embarrassing display that Nigeria, the continent’s largest country, delivered the world in 2023.
Obi claims that the controversy surrounding the country’s election process serves as a sobering reminder of Nigeria’s continuous difficulties with democratic administration. He advocated for the implementation of a system that would rebuild public confidence in the nation’s democracy as well as for immediate, comprehensive electoral reforms.
