Politics

Nigeria: Low turn-out, violence mark governorship elections but ECOWAS observers disagree

Published

3 months ago

March 19, 2023

In Nigeria, the 2023 gubernatorial elections were on Saturday held in 31 states out of Nigerian 36 sub-national units called states. The election included choosing legislatures for the state assembly.

There were reports of low voter turnout nationwide and high levels of voter impression and intimidation in the opposition stronghold. Our correspondent who covered polling units in Alimosho Local Government, Nigeria’s largest local government in the country’s commercial capital, Lagos, observed clusters of non-state actors in branded jackets tagged “TEAM LAGOS SECURITY” walking around voting centres with chants of intimidation and threats of violence.

The ruling APC’s incumbent Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has been in the Lagos state government for the past two decades, faced a strong challenge from Labour Party’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, an architecture and political activist.

A citizen journalist, Gbenga Faith who attempted to take pictures of the threatening mob was harassed and had his phone seized and forcefully made to delete the pictures.

There are also various videos online of thugs moving around while in some cases voters gearing up to restrain potential attackers.

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The incidences of disruption led to the postponement of elections at some polling centres like the VGC polling unit in Lekki, an eyebrow area in Eti-Osa local government in Lagos.

Meanwhile, officials of the electoral commission, INEC have begun counting elections amid reports of scattered violence and voter intimidation. No official results have been announced by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).

Recall that INEC postponed the governorship and state legislature elections which were initially scheduled to hold on March 11 by one week. Beyond Lagos, in Imo state, southeastern Nigeria, INEC said violence occurred such that security forces rescued 19 electoral officials who had been abducted by thugs, but election materials were lost.

The commission in a statement noted, “while the commission remains grateful to the security operatives, it condemns such acts of thuggery, intimidation, and disenfranchisement of voters.”

There is a new political wave traceable to the presidential candidacy of dark-horse, Peter Obi of the Labour Party who appears anti-establishment and an appealing candidate to the demography of young voters. Obi came third at the national polls in the February 25th elections but his popularity has influenced victories for less popular candidates of the Labour Party at different levels across the country.

Meanwhile, regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States in a statement expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the elections.

“The ECOWAS Election Observation Mission has been monitoring the process, which has been peaceful generally with all the stakeholders present (INEC officials, party agents, and voters) expressing satisfaction at the process,” the statement reads in part.

Related Topics:Elections Featured Nigeria

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Politics

Zimbabwe’s electoral commission, ZEC promises to publicise voters’ register

Published

7 hours ago

June 4, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

The electoral commission in Zimbabwe said it would soon publish the voters’ register for the forthcoming general elections.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) also assured the public of a fair election and promised to rectify anomalies that were observed during the voters’ inspection exercise.

The head of ZEC, Utloile Silaigwana made the position known when he announced the end of the mop-up voter registration exercise on Friday.

Silaigwana further revealed that the Nomination court would sit on 21 June and thereafter the voters’ roll would be accessible to candidates.

There are contentions about the neutrality of the electoral commission. In March, a member of the opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Allan Markham filed a court application challenging ZEC for access to the electronic voters’ roll but had his request rejected because “it was too risky” and in the interest of data protection.

Meanwhile, the ruling party, Zanu PF sent text messages to registered voters during the period urging them to vote for President Emmerson Mnangagwa. This move further fuelled the allegation that Zanu PF had access to the voters’ roll which is why it was able to send the messages.

President Mnangagwa is running for re-election to a second term after coming to power following a military coup that dislodged Robert Mugabe as Zimbabwe’s president in 2017.

The country is struggling with deep poverty, recurring power outages, and crippling unemployment, all of which have fuelled widespread resentment.

The President of Zimbabwe is elected using a two-round system. The Zimbabwean legislature is made up of 270 members of the National Assembly, 210 members elected in single-member constituencies, and 60 women elected by proportional representation in ten six-seat constituencies based on the country’s provinces.

Politics

Guinea-Bissau holds parliamentary elections after year-long break

Published

7 hours ago

June 4, 2023

Ifeoluwa Dada

Elections into the parliament of Guinea-Bissau have been held on Sunday after over a year since President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the House over accusations of corruption.

Over 20 political parties and coalitions, including the former ruling PAIGC party and its rival MADEM G15 presented candidates for various constituencies across the country.

The country’s parliament, known as the National People’s Assembly, is made up of 102 members who are chosen in two ways: 100 by closed-list proportional representation from 27 multi-member constituencies and two by single-member constituencies representing expatriate citizens in Africa and Europe.

The majority party or coalition appoints the government under the current political system, but the president has the authority to dismiss it in certain circumstances. In the past, this has led to political gridlock and infighting.

The Prime Minister, Nuno Gomes Nabiam, while commenting on the strength of diversity of the country and the likely inclusive parliament that could follow the elections, noted that “there will be no winner with an absolute majority in these elections. It is impossible.”

“No party is ready to govern Guinea-Bissau alone, ” Nabiam said.

Guinea Bissau’s path to stability has been difficult, as it has been for many other countries in the West African sub-region. Since its independence from Portugal in 1974, the country has seen coups or attempted coups despite elections.

In February 2022, gunmen stormed a government compound where President Embalo was holding a cabinet meeting, attempting to stage a coup. The incident was later linked by the presidency to the country’s thriving drug trade.