The United States called the flawed Nigerian election “deeply troubling.” Human Rights Watched described the elections as “fraught with fraud.”
The chances of the Nigerian election coming off without a hitch this year were slim, but I prefer always to side with optimism. Nigerian elections are always fraught. And at the outset of this one, the The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria instituted new technology that led to widespread long lines as well as claims of corruption and vote buying. According to the final results the winner got just over 8 million votes and allegedly achieved the majority in 24 of the 36 states plus the capital province, Abuja.
However, the fact that 70-year old Bola Tinubu, a former Machivallian Governor of Lagos, beat someone like Peter Obi, who has captivated young voters, seems reminiscent of Uganda’s Museveni vs. Bobbi Wine situation. Joe Biden, by comparison, is 80, and looks far more alert than Tinubu. Candidate Obi won over 6 million votes, surprising many by winning in both Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city and commercial powerhouse.
But who is Bola Tinubu? According to Jason Burke in The Guardian:
Tinubu has long been known as a “political godfather” with immense and invisible influence. After emigrating to the US, where he drove a taxi to fund studies in business administration, Tinubu worked as a management consultant. He returned to Nigeria and became involved in politics in the 1990s during the last years of the military regime.
When democracy returned in 1999, Tinubu won elections to become governor of Lagos, where he is credited with a crackdown on organised crime and tackling the city’s appalling traffic. Tinubu, who is extremely wealthy, also established extensive patronage networks that have underpinned his political power ever since, experts say. His support for outgoing Muhammadu Buhari was critical.
Nigerians, as a result of the disputed election, have taken to social media to express their frustrations at government. Here are some of the more interesting takes on Twitter of #NigeriaDecides2023:
Why did Rupert Murdoch tell the truth? (Sharon Waxman/The Wrap)
“In Murdoch’s own words, delivered in Dominion suit depositions, he describes himself as frightened by the power Donald Trump holds over the Fox audience. He portrays himself, accurately in this case, as the supreme authority at his network but unable to control his prime-time anchors who endorsed Trump’s lie of a stolen election.” (Jack Schafer/Politico)
“When Nisar Ahmad Wani succeeded in carrying out the world’s first camel cloning in 2009, it was hailed as a great achievement. Today, Wani is scientific director at the Reproductive Biotechnology Centre, in Dubai, and the practice is so popular that cloning has become his nine-to-five job.” (CNN)
“Menendez, Booker, nine House members slap Star-Ledger for closing Washington bureau Lawmakers: ‘Our constituents rely on this coverage to be informed participants in our democracy’” (New Jersey Globe)
“Months earlier I had brought a busload of college students (from Yale, the University of Virginia, the University of New Orleans, and elsewhere) to volunteer alongside Carter as he built a house for Habitat for Humanity in Americus, Georgia. After long days of hammering in the heat, the students would all sit down to a picnic-style dinner of fried chicken and catfish with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.” (Douglas Brinkley/VF)