Nigeria’s 87,209,007 registered voters armed their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) throngs to the 176,846 polling units across the country today February 25, 2023 to elect new set of leaders to steer the affairs of the country in the next four years.
At stake is the selection from 4,259 contestants comprising of 36 presidential and vice presidential candidates for the offices of president and vice president; 1,101 candidates for the 109 senatorial seats; and 3,122 candidates for the 360 seats in the House of Representatives.
On March 11, 2023, voters will decide the fate of 837 candidates contesting in the governorship elections holding in 28 states and the 10,240 candidates vying for 993 State Houses of Assembly seats.
It is expected that every Nigerian of at least 18 years of age, who must have collected their Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) would exercise this very important civic duty.
It is indeed a milestone as it will be Nigeria’s seventh consecutive general election since the return to uninterrupted democratic system of government in 1999.
And the elections will showcase how far the nation’s central electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties and contestants, security agents, the Nigerian voter and other stakeholders are willing to live up to the expectations of their offices and commitments.
INEC is deploying 1,642,386 polling and collation officers with sensitive and non-sensitive materials across 774 local government areas, 8,809 electoral wards across the country. The security agencies are to ensure the secure movement of the over 100,000 vehicles and about 4,200 boats that will deliver these required resources.
In the past few weeks to today’s Presidential and National Assembly elections, the country had been enveloped in apprehension and anxiety, even as tension has pervaded the land, as the citizens prepare for what has been describes as the most intriguing polls analysts believe would either improve or wield back the country’s burgeoning democracy.
In accordance with the Election Timetable published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as contained in the 2022 Electoral Act, all electioneering campaigns for the Presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections ended in the midnight of today, Thursday, February 23.
This is even as the candidates of the 18 political parties contesting in the 2023 Presidential election on Wednesday signed the Peace Accord alongside the National Chairmen of the parties at an elaborate ceremony at International Conference Center, Abuja.
Initiated by the National Peace Committee (NPC) headed by former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar with Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah as Secretary, Wednesday’s event was the third Peace Accord to be signed by candidates and parties on the eve of Nigeria’s general election since the first was signed in 2015. The first Peace Accord was signed before the commencement of electioneering campaign in September 2022 while another session was held in January in Abuja.
Amongst the Presidential candidates who attended Wednesday’s event were former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (PDP); Ex-Governors of Anambra and Lagos States, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi (LP) and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of (APC) as well as Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (NNPP).
While Tinubu is running on the mantra of continuity as the candidate of the party in power, Atiku, a former Vice President, is asking for another chance to right the wrongs of the APC in the eight years it was in office.
On the other hand, Obi, who prides himself as the face of a new Nigeria, promises a radical departure from the years of transactional leadership, which he said the APC and PDP had manifested in their poor management of the country.
On his part, Senator Kwankwaso had unveiled his 152-page document titled, “My Pledges to You,” promising to listen more and allow Nigerians to dictate the tune of his administration.
To emerge as president, one of the frontline candidates must receive a majority of the votes cast and at least 25 per cent of votes from 24 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Meanwhile, INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu told the eminent personalities who attended the signing of the Peace Accord including President Muhammadu Buhari; ex-Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and former Presidents of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki; Joy Banda (Malawi), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya) as well as Heads of Foreign Observer Groups from the European Union, Commonwealth of Nations and ECOWAS, the Commission that election will hold on Saturday, saying: “INEC is ready and by Friday, we will activate the Registration Area Centres (RACs) so that at first light on Saturday, Polling Units will open on time.”
He restated that the Commission is committed to free, fair and credible elections in compliance with the electoral legal framework and the letter and spirit of the Peace Accord.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Lt-Gen Lucky Irabor, assured voters that the military will take control and ensure peace for the conduct of the elections.
Also creating tension in the country ahead of the polls is the federal government’s Naira swap policy, which many believe was to stop politicians from buying votes, ensure a level playing field for all candidates, curb corruption, and make kidnapping-for-ransom unattractive.
Many Nigerians wonder how the election would fare in a cashless Nigeria for the first time in the country’s checkered history.
It is expected that Nigerians would troop out and exercise their civic duties as this election must not only enthrone good governance but also advance its democracy and help Nigeria reassert itself as a leader in the West African sub-region, the African continent, and in global affairs. And most importantly, it should truly reflect the wishes of the majority of Nigerians.