Lagos, Nigeria
Act Daily News
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Nigeria’s third drive candidate Peter Obi has gained Lagos State, in response to outcomes introduced from the state’s collation middle.
Obi’s win comes as a shock because the state is a stronghold of ruling APC occasion candidate Bola Tinubu, who was anticipated to simply win the state.
Tinubu is a former governor of Lagos State and is called an influential political godfather there.
Obi, who’s 61 years outdated, has gained in reputation amongst younger folks specifically, many who name themselves ‘Obidients.’
The election is among the most fiercely contested contests within the nation since 1999 and the two-party system that has dominated Nigerian politics since then is going through an unprecedented menace in Obi’s Labour Party.
Ninety-three million folks registered to vote and 87.2 million picked up their voter’s card within the nation total, in response to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Many voters in Lagos complained of intimidation and makes an attempt to suppress their votes. Act Daily News visited one polling unit in Lekki, Lagos, which was attacked and the navy was compelled to intervene.
Dr. Chidi Nwagwu instructed Act Daily News: “I arrived at around 10am. Polling materials were late and we set up to start voting. Some thugs arrived and started hitting people with chairs. I was hit several times with a chair. There was a doctor who helped us. A lot of women were attacked, including a pregnant woman. She was knocked to the ground and they smashed her phone.”
Alicia Gberikon stated: “There was harassment and if you had a phone that was a crime. People were beaten and had their phones smashed. It was very scary.”
Political analyst Remi Adekoya stated Obi’s win was “the biggest shock of Tinubu’s political career.”
“This election is reshaping Nigeria’s political landscape … the victory of Peter Obi in Lagos, the home turf of Bola Tinubu has shown that many Nigerians want a new kind of politics and that the days of godfatherism are numbered,” he added.
However, Michael Famoroti, head of intelligence at Lagos-based information firm Stears, cautioned that Obi would battle to copy the win throughout the nation.
“Peter Obi’s performance in Lagos is unlikely to translate across the country,” he stated.
“Looking at his performance in the other south west states, the Lagos win reinforces the view that the Obidient movement is still somewhat concentrated among a higher economic class.. Elections in Nigeria are still won in rural areas and the data so far suggests that … Peter Obi still faces an uphill task to secure the required votes in critical states.”
Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday in what’s Africa’s largest democratic train nevertheless it was beset with lengthy delays and a few voters didn’t get to vote in any respect as election officers failed to point out up.
Yiaga Africa, a non-profit civic group says it deployed 3,836 observers throughout the nation and was dissatisfied with the election course of.
“There’s a sense of disappointment, quite frankly, with the way this process has gone. Clearly, we’ve not overcome and resolved, our perennially logistical challenges with elections,” Samson Itodo, Yiaga’s Executive Director instructed Act Daily News.
Act Daily News has contacted INEC for a remark.
Source: www.cnn.com