The verdict passed on Nigeria’s gubernatorial election shows little to no improvement from the presidential election conducted last month. Prevalent issues recorded during the Presidential and National Assembly elections either remained the same or worsened.
While incidents of electoral malpractice and violence were recorded at the last election, the country’s electoral commission (the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC) and the security agencies responsible for effectively coordinating the polls, expressed confidence in their preparedness and ability to handle Saturday’s election. They did not succeed flawlessly.
Reports from various parts of the country showed that incidents of violence, vote-buying, voter intimidation, voter apathy and the militarization of the electoral process still occurred and this led to the cancellation of votes in various polling units and the declaration of inconclusive results in some states.
Here are three main ways the Nigerian gubernatorial election failed to improve from the presidential:
Low Voter Turnout
The 2019 Nigerian Presidential and National Assembly election witnessed the lowest turnout of voters since the country’s transition to democracy, with just 40 percent of registered voters showing up to the polls. However, this percentage paled in comparison to the even lower voter turnout recorded on Saturday during the gubernatorial election.
In areas like Katsina, Ogun, the Federal Capital Territory, Edo and Adamawa states, voting went by quickly as polling units recorded fewer voters than in the last elections.
The Lagos State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, alleged that only 20 percent of the voters registered in the state showed up to the gubernatorial poll. Rivers State, one of the states ravaged by election violence last month, saw an understandably low turnout of voters as well.
While candidates like Agbaje and the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, have blamed the issue of voter apathy on either their opponents or the conduct and outcome of February’s election, the drop is not surprising as Nigerians are oftentimes unbothered about state elections.
Increased Violence and Insecurity
The 2019 election cycle will not be forgotten in a hurry, solely based on the increased levels of violence and bloodshed recorded across the country.
Toeing the same line as the Presidential and National Assembly polls, where deaths were already being recorded a day before its original date, the Governorship and State House Polls continued an unsavory trend of selfish political mandates taking precedence over the lives of citizens.
While the police assured the residents of Rivers State that their journey to the polls would be peaceful, following the deployment of more security personnel, the southern state still recorded over four deaths, cases of kidnappings and several incidents of ballot boxes being snatched.
To the west of the country, the House of Representatives and the people of Oyo State were flummoxed at the assassination of a Member representing Akinyele/Lagelu Federal Constituency of Oyo State, Hon. Temitope Olatoye, who died as a result of injuries sustained from a gun shot during the elections.
Other states where casualties were recorded during the gubernatorial election include Imo, Akwa Ibom, and Enugu among others.
Suspensions and Inconclusive Results
While Saturday’s elections were controversial, the collation process has proven to be a major feat for INEC, with the electoral body cancelling elections in various polling units, suspending the collation processes in some and deeming the results from others inconclusive.
Following the arrest of the Kano State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Sule Garo, for disrupting the collation process in the Nasarawa Local Government Area of the State, INEC announced that it had suspended collation in the State, regardless of the fact that it had received the complete results from 43 out of the State’s 44 Local Government Areas.
Meanwhile, there will be a rerun of elections in Bauchi, Plateau, Adamawa and Sokoto states as INEC has declared their results inconclusive.
According to the country’s electoral commission, the decision to order a rerun is based on the inconsistencies noted in the results tallied for states involved. They suspect that this means that some manipulation had occurred.
As a result of the high level of insecurity in the oil-rich Rivers State in the south, INEC also announced the suspension of all electoral processes in the State. Similarly, the electoral body announced its decision to suspend announcing the winner of the controversial Imo state elections.
