Gradually, the nation seems to be coming to the closing chapter of the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections, but it is quite not the end yet.
There are still a few more boxes that need to be ticked before we can say it is all over.
While we cannot say for certain at this moment who will win this election, however, here are 11 major developments that we have noted and believe everyone should be aware of at this moment.
1. Results of At Least 35 States, FCT Known
At the moment the results of at least 35 states and the FCT are known.
Ekiti was the first state to be officially announced, and afterwards, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced the results for 25 other states including (Kwara, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Oyo, Yobe, Enugu, Lagos, Gombe, Jigawa, Adamawa, Katsina, Niger, Edo, Benue, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Nasarawa, Abia, Bauchi, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, Zamfara, Kano and FCT).
States whose results we already know but have not been announced at the National Collation Centre in Abuja include (Ebonyi, Imo, Cross River, Delta, Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba, Anambra, and Rivers).
The outcome of the polls in Borno State is the only one currently expected.
2. IReV Uploads Surpass 100 Thousand Polling Units
The functionality of the IReV and BVAS have been a huge talking point all through the elections, especially within the collation stage of the process.
Some party agents on Monday staged a walk-off at the International Conference Centre where the national collation is taking place. However, many others have stayed back and INEC has continued to see that the IReV begins to function as expected.
At this time of writing this, about 103,492 polling units’ results have been uploaded, out of the 176,846 polling units we have. This leaves us with 73,354 polling units more to go.
3. APC leads In Number of Votes, But PDP Has More States
With the figures obtained at this time, the All Progressives Congress (APC) currently leads in terms of the number of votes polled (6.5 million).
The PDP is currently in second place with 5.1 million votes while the Labour Party comes in a distant 3rd place with 3.1 million votes.
While the numbers are in favour of the APC, the PDP has won more states than any other party at this time, however, the winner of this election will not be determined by how many states one has won but by how many votes they polled.
4. PDP, LP, ADC Ask INEC Chairman To Step Aside
Aggrieved with the result collation process, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP) and African Democratic Congress (ADC) have demanded a fresh election, saying the February 25 presidential election has been “irretrievably compromised”.
According to the parties, Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections were manipulated by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at polling units by their failure to upload results electronically on the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV).
5. Several Governors Lose Bid To Enter Senate
The election is a dynamic one and that has continued to reflect in the results of the National Assembly Polls.
A couple of serving governors who were hoping to move into the Senate saw their legislative dreams brought to a halt.
At least six outgoing governors failed in their attempts to make it to Nigeria’s Senate after their two-term tenure of eight years each.
6. INEC Official Fears For His Life
The elections took a little ugly shape in Rivers State where a collation officer for the presidential election (SCOPs), Prof Charles Adias adjourned the collation of results for February 25, 2023 election over an alleged threat to his life by unnamed party supporters.
Prof Adias who is also the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Otueke announced the adjournment on Tuesday morning while addressing journalists at the State Collation Centre in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The Commissioner of Police of the Presidential Election in Rivers, Aderemi Adeoye, appealed to the SCOPs to reveal the names of those threatening his life, Adias insisted that he won’t proceed until the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state addressed some of the issues of those threatening him raised
This includes the faulty Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
7. Statesmen Weigh In On The Matter
With tensions being on the high side, stakeholders have started to sue for calm, peace and order. One respected leader who has been calling for order and a following of due processes is former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The ex-military leader appealed to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu to save the country from impending danger by rectifying the errors in the recent elections.
Similarly, human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called into question the credibility of last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, accusing security personnel, electoral staff, and state governors of undermining the process.
Falana said he has not been impressed by the very disappointing outing on the part of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
8. Government Clapback
The government did not take the inferences of the statesmen kindly. In an almost instant clap back, the Federal Government urged former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to truncate the 2023 general elections with his “inciting, self-serving and provocative letter on the polls”.
The government said what the former President “cunningly” framed as an “appeal for caution and rectification” was nothing but a calculated attempt to undermine the electoral process and a willful incitement to violence.
9. INEC Official Killed, Two Burnt To Death
The 2023 presidential election has not been without bloodshed. While the violence has been pronounced as used to be in previous elections, some deaths were recorded within the course of the polls.
An official of INEC in Delta State was killed two days after the elections. The official was killed in the Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta.
Authorities said INEC staff were on their way back to Asaba to deliver the results of the local government when the unfortunate incident occurred.
In another development, two persons died on Sunday in an attack on the campaign office of a House of Representatives candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in Kano State.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Abdullahi Kiyawa, who made the disclosure in a statement on Monday, noted that a group of suspected thugs set the office ablaze with two unidentified persons in a stationary vehicle inside the building burnt to death.
10. Collations Disrupted
There were several reports of collations disrupted by thugs. One major incident was experienced in Jos, and Delta, while Rivers State was not left out, however, men of the Police Force were able to stop the hoodlums trying to undermine the electoral process before things went out of hand.
11. Lawmakers Say Nigeria Will Be At Peace
Many results are coming in and tempers are rising, however, the lawmakers in the House of Representatives believe that Nigeria will remain at peace.
Speaker of the House upon resumption today, said the nation will defeat the cynicism of those waiting to see the worst predictions for the country become real.
“Nigeria will be at peace, we will work through the law and due process to resolve differences, settle disputes and ensure the peaceful transition of power,” Femi Gbajabiamila stated.
At this moment, the National Collation exercise is on a short pause and the electoral umpire says more results will be announced upon resumption within the next two hours.
It is still unclear which of the candidates will be able to satisfy the necessary requirement needed to become President of Nigeria.
