"INEC FAILED, TURNOUT OF 25 MILLION VOTES IN A COUNTRY OF 220 MILLION PEOPLE IS UNACCEPTABLY LOW" - UK FINANCIAL TIMES

The Financial Times of London says the just-concluded presidential election in Nigeria was faulty in all ramifications.

According to the publication, the Nigerian election failed to set the example needed for West Africa, where leaders have extended term limits or resorted to seizing power through the barrel of a gun.

The article read partly, “The election which appears to have delivered the presidency to Bola Tinubu, a wealthy political fixer running for the incumbent APC was badly mismanaged at best.”

“More worrying still was voter turnout, which was pitifully low at 27 per cent. If official results are correct, two-thirds of the 87 million people lined up for hours to collect their voter registration cards failed to cast their ballot. Apathy cannot explain it.

“Something, including the possibility of widespread voter suppression, must have prevented them from voting. The turnout of 25 million votes in a country of 220 million people is unacceptably low. Tinubu’s tally of 8.8 million gives him the weakest of mandates.”