"We Must Learn from South Africa": Peter Obi Condemns Nigeria's 2023 Elections

• Peter Obi, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), praised South Africa's electoral system while criticising Nigeria's
• Obi highlighted the characteristics of the South African election, including a voter turnout of approximately 60% and 90% polling unit started early
• The former governor of Anambra state pointed out the shortcomings of Nigeria's 2023 election, citing a voter turnout of less than 30% and over 60% of polling stations starting late

FCT, Abuja- In the wake of the recent South African election, former presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has praised South Africa's electoral system while condemning Nigeria's as fraudulent and lacking transparency.

Obi, who took to his X handle to compare the electoral systems of the two countries, said the South African election was characterized by a voter turnout of approximately 60 per cent and over 90 per cent of polling stations opening on time.

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Obi added that the inclusion of diaspora voting and the real-time dissemination of results without technical glitches further underscored the strength of South Africa's democratic process, as reported by Arise Television.

He said:

"With about 60% Voter turnout, over 90% of polling open on time, allowing diaspora voting, the results and updates were real-time without any form of technical glitches during the election.

"This demonstrated the robustness and transparency of their system. The seamless online dissemination of results further highlights their commitment to democratic principles and technological advancement."

Obi: Nigeria's 2023 election lacked transparency

In contrast, Obi pointed out that Nigeria's 2023 election was marred by controversy and allegations of fraud, ThisDay reported.

He asserted:

"This is in stark contrast, to the show of shame that the giant of Africa, Nigeria, gave the World in 2023. Nigeria's 2023, with less than 30% of the Voter turnout and over 60% of the polling stations starting late, no diaspora voting.

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"The elections were plagued by allegations of fraud and widespread irregularities, all forms of glitches, despite an enormous expenditure to the tune of about a billion dollars (direct allocation of =N=313 billion and donor agencies supports)."

2027: Bafarawa predicts Obi's possible emergence in PDP

In another report, Attahiru Bafarawa, a former governor of Sokoto state, said, "the people will decide" who the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be in 2027.

Legit.ng reports that the PDP is currently Nigeria's main opposition party. The party governed the country for 16 years, from 1999 to 2015. However, it has lost the last three presidential elections to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Proofread by Kola Muhammed, journalist and copyeditor at Legit.ng

Source: Legit.ng