Nigeria: Vote Counting Under Way in Presidential Election

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Image copyright: Associated Press [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

  • Ballot counting is underway in Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections, seen as the closest race in the country's democratic era, as polls, which opened at 7:30 GMT on Saturday, officially closed six hours later.

  • Despite the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) previously vowing to upload the collated results as they come in on its website to allow Nigerians to follow them in real-time, no result had been uploaded as of Saturday evening.

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The Spin

Narrative A

Despite living under democratic rule since 1999, this is the first time that Nigerians could cast their votes for a candidate that offers hope for change as the country faces economic and security challenges. Obi can unite the country as he is campaigning on competence instead of ethnic or religious lines, and he knows the problems of Nigeria more than anyone else.

Economist

Narrative B

While this election may promote youth engagement in politics and lead to a break in the hegemony of Nigeria's two establishment parties, very little will change, even if Obi enters into office as parliament is likely to remain under the control of those political forces. In addition, his market-oriented reforms can only deepen the country's social, economic, and security crises.

Jacobin

Metaculus Prediction