The 23rd and 24th of February proved to be a very busy weekend for the African political scene, as Nigeria and Senegal both went to the polls to elect its leaders.
Although Nigeria’s election was scheduled to hold earlier in , the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced a postponement of the polls, citing logistics issues, moving it to the same weekend as Senegal’s elections.
Nigeria’s elections took centre stage as the country has a history of controversial elections, which led to various statements from the UK and US, beforehand, encouraging peace.
However, while both countries are located in the same region and have just shared one election weekend, there are clear distinctions between them and how their elections were conducted. Here are a few places where the differences stuck out.
Difference in the number of candidates and registered voters:
In Senegal, over 87 candidates signalled their interest in the presidential race. However, an electoral measure, which required candidates to secure signatures from at least 0.8% of the electorate spread across 7 of the country’s 14 regions, resulted in just 5 viable candidates.
Nigeria’s election, on the other hand, contained over 70 candidates on its ballot paper, with just two major front runners– President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the opposition, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
There is also a significant difference in each country’s voting population. While Senegal registered about 6.6 million voters, Nigeria’s electoral body INEC registered over 80 million voters.
Commitment to Election Timetable:
Like Senegal, Nigeria announced its election date prior to the election year itself. However, a surprise postponement was made hours to the Nigerian polls on February 16, which was largely met by criticism from both Nigerians and the international community.
Citing logistics problems and a general lack of preparation, the Nigerian electoral commission announced it had become necessary to move the elections to February 23.
Senegal, however, stuck to its original election timetable, conducting its polls on the aforementioned date, without recording major technical glitches or hiccups.
Violence:
While Senegal conducted its third consecutive elections in a generally peaceful atmosphere, the same could not be said for Nigeria, as the country’s electoral process was marred with violence.
From the alleged kidnapping of electoral officers, to voter suppression and over 39 casualties reported, the election in specific places like Rivers state, Lagos state and Kogi state, was unsafe for the citizens.
These acts of violence have been condemned by the international community and the two front runners in the presidential election.
Election Results: While Nigeria went through a controversial vote collation period, with parties alleging that several polling centres had been rigged and tampered with, Senegal’s provincial tally has already indicated the winner of the polls, with President Macky Salls, set to secure a second term.
This is a large contrast with the situation in Nigeria as INEC went about its collation and announcements at a glacial pace, much to the despair of Nigerians, who wait with bated breath to know their new leader.
