Nigeria’s 2023 election season could not have realistically produced a different outcome than what happened.
This is according to the Board Chairman of YIAGA Africa, Dr. Hussaini Abdu, who spoke during an interview on Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023, a pre-recorded programme that highlights election issues and tracks personalities.
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“Fundamentally, the major driving issue in our electoral culture or desperate attitude to elections has to do with our values, the values of our politicians espoused,” he stated.
“That value is the major software that drives how we do things, what we do, and what we don’t do. Many times in Nigeria, our conversations are more around structures and processes, but we don’t look at systems and values.
“Many times, we think about laws, and certain positions but we are not looking at what connects them and allow them to work seamlessly. Those things that connect them have a lot to do with our values, the value system.”
According to him, Nigeria’s elections cannot be better than the society, adding that it is a reflection of the societal character.
He wondered why some politicians will be so desperate to occupy certain elective positions to the point of killing their fellow humans.
After the keenly contested presidential election on February 25, former Lagos Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner and president-elect.
Tinubu, 70, came out tops in 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states and secured significant numbers in several others to claim the highest number of votes — 8,794,726, almost two million votes more than his closest rival — former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Abubakar, 76, who has now run for president six times, got 6,984,520 votes, while the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who, in less than a year, galvanised young voters in a manner some have described as unprecedented finished the race with 6,101,533.
Both Atiku and Obi have called for the cancellation of the election and are challenging the poll’s outcome in court.
For the full interview with Dr Abdu, do watch Channels Television’s Roadmap 2023 on Monday by 9 pm.
