Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is making progress in the collation and computation of the results of last Saturday Presidential Election as INEC’s iRev results portal revealed that 83.798 out of 176.846 polling units have so far submitted their results.
With this progress, INEC has about 93,048 polling units left to be dealt with.
It is also revealed that 23 out of 36 states have declared their results at state level.
However, Nigeria’s main opposition parties are calling for fresh elections, describing results currently being announced by electoral body as “heavily doctored and manipulated”.
In a joint press conference held in Abuja, their spokesman said their parties would no longer be part of the ongoing collation process, insisting that they had lost confidence in the electoral body’s Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.
In a joint statement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP), and African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Abuja today, the parties called for new polls to be held under a new chairman for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“We call on the international community to note that the results being declared at the National Collation Centre have been heavily doctored and manipulated and do not reflect the wishes of Nigerians as expressed at the polls on February 25, 2023,” they said.
The election process has been dogged with controversy, and the announcement at the National Collation Center in Abuja has seen some tense moments, with opposition party members walking out of the Collation Center as the results were being announced Monday.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu is so far leading the race with nearly half of the vote already tallied.
The leading opposition party PDP’s Atiku Abubakar is in second place, according to INEC figures.
Despite his shock win over Tinubu on his home turf in Lagos State, Peter Obi, the much-touted ‘third force’ candidate is trailing in third place.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was also among those who have criticized the electoral process in a strongly-worded letter late Monday where he alleged results had been doctored.
But the government warned him not to truncate the elections with “his inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the elections,” in a statement from Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed.
APC has however dismissed Obasanjo’s allegations as “frivolous, unfounded, and baseless,” emphasizing that the former leader did not offer any evidence to back up his claims that the electoral technology was manipulated.
APC blasted Obasanjo’s statement as tantamount to “subtly calling” for “a coup against democracy and the constitution.”
The party acknowledged Tinubu’s loss in his stronghold state of Lagos and questioned Obasanjo’s queries into the outcome.
INEC meanwhile continues to announce results coming in, despite the criticism of the commission.
Meanwhile, the INEC had directed any candidate with complaints to seek redress in the courts during a results announcement in Abuja Monday.
Yakubu says he plans to continue with results announcement despite complaints.
