Following the country’s series of peaceful power transitions, the UN Spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said that Nigeria is a model of peaceful democracy with a long and illustrious history of democratically elected leaders who have changed hands without violence. Speaking about the effectiveness of the United Nations (UN) technical assistance to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its use of technology to run the polls, Dujarric disclosed to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in New York that the support did produce meaningful outcomes. In his remarks, he indicated that the United National Development Programme (UNDP) had assisted the INEC. However, he said they are not an observer of the elections.
Regarding the manner in which the elections were carried out, he said the UN could not give a definitive response. He is of the opinion that Nigeria has a highly robust and proud democratic heritage, as seen by the country’s peaceful transition of authority in recent years. It is crucial that at this moment in any election, people should be calm because they have witnessed issues of rising tension following national elections just because people didn’t agree with the outcomes. At this point, it is vital that individuals accept the election’s outcomes.
The UN keeps its support to enhance transparency.
He explained that the UN system had maintained its backing of a non-governmental network of organizations that focused on developing capacity, promoting transparency, and including youth and women. The assistance provided to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does include technical support, which has primarily been provided by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with the goal of enhancing both the process of preparing for and maintaining the election while also making better use of technology.
In addition to this, the spokesperson stated that he had seen that several other candidates would compete with the outcome. It is imperative, as it is with every election, that any candidate or group of candidates who have a conflict with the outcome of the polls utilize the proven legal and constitutional channels in order to negotiate their disagreements with the outcomes of the election. This is the only way for these issues to be resolved. And when that process or these procedures unfold, it is crucial for everyone to maintain their composure, he said.
Tinubu emerged as the winner, winning 12 states of the federation.
According to Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC Chairman, Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State who is also the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate got the most votes nationwide, making him the winner. The APC candidate got 8,794,726 votes, which was enough to defeat the other candidates; Atiku Abubakar of the opponent’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who got 6,984,520 votes; Peter Obi, candidate for the Labour Party, got 6,101,533 votes; and Rabiu Kwankwaso, the candidate for the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), got 1,496,687 votes.
Kwankwaso only secured Kano State out of 36 states and the FCT, while Atiku, Tinubu and Obi won 12 states each. Tinubu triumphed in the 12 states, including Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Rivers, Kwara, Benue, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Kogi, and Niger. The PDP candidate, Atiku won in Osun, Taraba, Kebbi, Akwa Ibom, Sokoto, Adamawa, Kaduna, Yobe, Bayelsa, Gombe, Bauchi, and Katsina. While Obi won in Lagos, Anambra, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Plateau, Abia, Delta, Federal Capital Territory, Nasarawa, and Cross River.
18 candidates contested in the presidential election.
More so, in the presidential election, which was held across all 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), there were a total of 18 presidential candidates running for office. The spokesman further urges that it is critical for all parties involved to work toward improving the situation and ensuring the continued security of the nation, as well as to make use of the existing legal and constitutional mechanisms to contest any election results, should they so desire.
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