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Nigerian opposition parties urged the nation’s election commission to immediately release results from Saturday’s poll to reduce the chances of the outcome being compromised.
Polling stations were supposed to transmit the counts as soon as they were tallied, but the Independent National Electoral Commission had published results from less than a quarter of them by 4 p.m. local time. Officials in some areas, including one south of the capital Abuja, uploaded notes saying the “election was declared not contested,” following attacks by criminals.
“It will be a disservice to Nigerians and a negation to democracy for anyone to subvert the will of the people as freely expressed in their votes,” Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, said in a statement.
The slow progress is another snag in the election process after glitches in a new electronic system that’s being used to verify citizens’ identities delayed voting on Saturday in Africa’s biggest democracy. Local media reported that ballots were cast late into the night as officials either arrived hours late or struggled with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System.
The Labour Party, whose candidate Peter Obi was projected to win in several pre-election surveys, also raised concerns about the process.
“The delay in uploading the results undermines public confidence in the results-transmission process,” Yiaga Africa, a nonprofit monitoring the election process, said in an earlier statement on Sunday.
INEC officials at a collation center in oil-rich Rivers state were still trying to upload presidential results to the agency’s online portal at 4 p.m. on Sunday, a task they were supposed to perform in the presence of party agents. They blamed software problems and network connectivity.
The ruling All Progressives Congress dismissed concerns about any rigging attempts and warned opposition parties against inciting their supporters.
“The body officially designated to reflect the voices of Nigerians is the Independent National Electoral Commission,” the APC said in emailed statement. “No party can bully them by threats to do its own bidding.”
–With assistance from William Clowes.
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