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Women wait in line to cast their ballots at a polling station in Kano State. Photograph by Sodiq Adelakun“To God who made me, on election day, you must vote for APC or we will deal with you,” he warned to cheers captured on video. “I’m saying it again: On Election Day, you either vote for APC or we deal with you.”
It praised security workers, political party officials, election observers and the media for ensuring the safety of voters. Voting has declined in recent elections, with observers pointing to fewer civil liberties, distrust of corrupt political leaders and weak democratic institutions.In 2023, Nigeria recorded a voter turnout of just under 27%, the lowest level since democracy was restored in 1999 and the sixth lowest in presidential elections worldwide since 1945.
CCIJ analyzed statements state-by-state made by election officials, combing through recordings of election results announcements at the National Collation Centre, Abuja posted to YouTube by Channels Television, which livestreamed the events. CCIJ found officials said publicly that votes were not counted for at least 1,500 polling sites throughout Nigeria. But the government’s own documents show more than 2,000 were not counted because of irregularities and violence.
“The Commission will continue to improve its processes and procedures after every election,” INEC wrote to CCIJ. It did not respond to additional questions., INEC wrote that “in most cases” it addressed challenges involving the late arrival of election materials at some polling sites, inadequate security personnel, violence and intimidation.
Nigerian police barricade the Independent National Electoral Commission collation center following alleged reports armed men were planning to invade and disrupt the center after Nigeria’s gubernatorial election in Kaduna State.On Election Day in 2023, in the district of Chiranchi, about 70 miles south of Tudun Wada, where the Kano governor alleged Daguwa was linked with the murder 15 people, 30-year-old Muhammad Ibrahim was in a line at his polling station, excited to vote for the first time.
“When I went there, voting had already commenced, people were already in the queue and I went for verification to be sure that it was my polling unit,” she told CCIJ. “I’m not a politician, I only came out to vote. I have no idea who sponsored them but it was obvious that they were touts or thugs,” she said.
“Area Boys came and said those that will not vote for Tinubu should leave and Igbos should go back to their land,” Oladiran said. “They said if you are Igbo and from Anambra, go back to your state.” Igbo people are mainly from southeast Nigeria, including the state of Anambra. She visited shortly before 2 p.m. but saw no voters despite hundreds registered to cast ballots there. She took a photograph to document the scene.
“We weren’t even allowed to reach the polling unit,” she recalled. “There were numerous Agberos in the area, insisting that only people from a certain tribe could vote, which was quite unfair. We are equals in Nigeria.”A couple hundred miles southeast of Lagos, assailants disrupted voting in the Obio-Akpor part of Rivers State.
About 60 miles east, in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, voters became angered when election officials did not show up at polling stations. In Nembe, Bayelsa State, four individuals were charged with terrorism and promoting violence in connection with the deaths of three people in the days leading up to the presidential election, including the murder of a Queen Kieriseiye,Closer to Lagos, in Idanre, Ondo State, Owoeye Beatrice said violence interrupted voting at her polling station at a maternity center in the city’s Alade Atosin neighborhood.
She said witnesses told her that supporters of other political parties had killed him and that security workers did not attempt to rescue him.“I don’t think I will ever participate in any future election or allow my children to ever participate. Nigeria’s elections have become battlegrounds where you must kill to survive.”
Out of an estimated 27,000 eligible voters in Ayingba, only 12 percent voted, according to the election commission’s data. Twenty-two of 73 polling stations also did not report any ballots cast in part due to violence.Odiji Okpanachi, who teaches political science at the same university as Ohere, said the government mishandled his voter registration when he moved to work at the school. The lack of the card prevented him from voting.
In December, CCIJ contacted Iringe-Koko for updates on the arrests. She declined to comment on the case. Ezenwa Nwagwu, the head of Partners for Electoral Reform, said intimidation and violence were not the only reasons for low voter turnout. Voting is not mandatory, he said, and many Nigerians facing hardships are losing faith in democracy.
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