On Thursday, US Vice President Joe Biden urged Nigeria to hold a free and fair presidential election on Saturday.
Also urging candidates and political parties to accept the results as announced by the country’s Independent National Election Commission was the president of the United States (INEC).
On Saturday, Nigerians will participate in their most open presidential and parliamentary elections since the nation’s 1999 transition from military to democratic governance.
There is a chance for three of the 18 people running to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
The candidates for the ruling party (All Progressives Congress) are former Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu, 70; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, 76; and challenger Peter Obi, 61; all of whom are well-liked by youthful people.
There are more than 93 million voters registered.
There will be over 176,600 voting places throughout the nation, including in camps for people who have been uprooted by the strife in the north-east between federal soldiers and Islamist militants.
In a nation with a long history of electoral unrest and bloodshed, INEC claims that it has taken steps to assure that this election would be free and fair.
Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) voters will present their voting cards to be recognised using fingerprint and facial recognition technology.
This is done to lessen the possibility of fraudsters casting multiple votes.
A candidate for president must win the most votes cast nationwide and at least 25% of the vote in at least 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
The top two contenders will face off in a run-off if nobody succeeds in clearing both obstacles. According to the constitution, the run-off must occur within 21 days following the declaration of the winner.
Since the switch to democracy in 1999, no run-off election has been required.
Candidates for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate must receive a simple majority of votes in the district or senatorial seat they are running for in order to prevail in the parliamentary election.
It’s anticipated that the counting and collation procedure will take several days.
Although INEC has not specified a specific time for the release of official results, this is anticipated to happen during the first half of the next week. (Reuters/NAN)
