Over 93.4 million Nigerian voters are casting their ballots
to elect a president, vice president and representatives for parliament - the
National Assembly to steer the affairs of the country which is the most
populous and biggest democracy in Africa.
Voting starts at 8:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm but voters in
line before 2pm are allowed to vote, according to the Independent Electoral
Commission.
This election will be the West African county’s seventh
successive one marking 23 years of unbroken democratic governance.
This year’s polls will be different from previous ones
because new electoral legislation and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System
(BVAS) have been introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
to improve electoral integrity and boost public trust in the electoral process.
The winner of the presidential election must secure a
majority of votes cast and, at a minimum, 25% of valid votes in at least 24
states.
The ongoing 2023 general election features 18 candidates,
with four main contenders: Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples’ Democratic Party
(PDP), Bola Tinubu of the APC, Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu
Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).
The Independent National Electoral Commission has indicated
there is a 2.8 percent decline in the candidacy of women compared to 2019, with
only 10.1 per cent of female candidates running.
44.4 million (47.5%) of the 93.5 million of the eligible
voters in the general elections are women while women and youth form over 75
per cent of registered voters.
The Independent National Electoral Commission says the
elections will not be held in 240 polling units across 28 states and the
Federal Capital Territory, because no voter expressed interest in transferring
their votes to those units during voter registration due to security issues.
Universities have been ordered by the Nigerian National
Universities Commission (NUC) to close from 22nd February to 14th March to
allow students to cast their votes in response to calls by various individuals
and organisations who expressed fear over the possible disenfranchisement of
Nigerian students.
The Inspector-General of Police has ordered a restriction of
all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of
transportation, from 12 am to 6 pm on election day with the exception of those
on essential services and duties such as INEC Officials, electoral observers,
the press, ambulances responding to medical emergencies, and firefighters
amongst others.
The winner of the 2023 election will have a challenging task
at hand - to turn the fear of economic collapse into good fortunes for the
country, combat insecurity, fight corruption and address the high level of
unemployment in the country.
AEP
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