The defeated in Nigeria's presidential election opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar wants to take legal action against the victory of head of state Muhammadu Buhari.
He had "never seen our democracy so humiliated" as on the day of the election, tweeted Abubakar on Wednesday. In many states it came to deliberate misconduct.
DPA
Atiku Abubakar
In addition, soldiers in some parts of the country have turned their weapons on citizens who should actually protect them. Consequently, he refuses the result of "the apparent election" of 23 February and will "challenge it in court". In a free and fair election, he would have "within seconds" congratulated the winner. Here, however, many of the 36 states had "obvious and deliberate abuse".
The election commission had declared incumbent Buhari the winner on Wednesday morning with more than 15 million votes. Opposition candidate Abubakar received only eleven million votes. According to polls, a head-to-head race had actually been expected.
Voter turnout of only 36 percent
The vote had been postponed by one week in mid-February just hours before the polling stations opened. Last Saturday, 84 million registered Nigerians were called upon to redefine the head of state and parliament.
In the days leading up to the polls and on Election Day itself, scores of people were killed in riots and excessive force by the security forces. Buhari had urged the security forces a few days earlier to "recklessly" proceed. Anyone who tries to falsify the election will be killed, said the head of state.
The short-term shift of a week had caused additional displeasure because many Nigerians had traveled specifically for the first election date in their hometowns. The turnout was, apparently because of the short-term date change, at only 36 percent.
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With around 190 million people, Nigeria is the most populous country, the largest economy and also the most important oil producer in Africa. At the same time, no other country lives in extreme poverty. In the north, the army has been waging a relentless war against Islam for years. For these reasons, many Nigerians are forced to leave their country.