Nigeria's 2019 Final Election Results: Key Factoids, Links to Sanders Feb 20-25, 2019 Election-Related Interviews

Highlights of Key Factoids on the outcome of Nigeria's recently announced final results of the 2019 presidential election are noted below. The country’s Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, made the official announcement late in the evening on February 26, 2019. Links to Dr. Sanders'  February 20-25, 2019 election-related media interviews several days before the final results were announced appear below at the end of the blog. What is key now is the quick post-election factoids, which are:

• All Progressive Party (APC) incumbent President Mamadou Buhari, 76-years-old, defeated his main rival, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, with a margin of nearly four million votes.
• Abubakar's People's Democratic Party (PDP) has rejected the result.
• Turnout was 35.6%.
• February 16, 2019 postponement of elections until February 23, 2019 disappointed many voters, increased political rhetoric, and there were incidences of violence in the northeast, and southern parts of the country, including attacks and burning of ballots of election day February 23, and burning of INEC offices before the February 16, 2019 election postponement.
• No independent observer has cited electoral fraud, and despite the election being marred with violence and ballot box theft or burning, including the unfortunate loss of life, thus far most outside/international observers have not stated that these issues materially affected the results; we will need to wait and see if this holds.
• Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) won in 19 of the 36 states while the PDP was victorious in 17 states and in the capital, Abuja.
• The APC had 15.2 million votes while the PDP had 11.3 million
• Buhari announced, after his victory he would increase efforts to improve security, the economy, and fight corruption
• 84 million registered voters, approximately 72 million voted – postponement from February 16, 2019 to February 23, 2019 could have played a big role as a result of attrition or disappointment
• 42 million young voters, unsure of how many of those actually participated in the 2019 elections
• 14 million first-time registered voters, again unsure how many of those participated in the 2019 elections
• February 16, 2019 election postponement reportedly cost the Nigerian government ½ day’s GDP, roughly between 1.2-1.9 billion USD$
• Key issues for the new administration remain the same: improve the economy, provide jobs (particularly job creation/entrepreneurship opportunities & initiatives for women and small businesses (known in region as small & medium size enterprises, SMEs) for its large young population, address the poverty many of Nigeria's citizens face (particularly women & youth), provide better health and education services, further reduce insecurity both food and physical security issues in the northeast, central (herder-pastoral issues) and Niger Delta regions, along with continuing the fight against corruption.
• Election Results Map*
• Buhari statement after re-election: https://www.legit.ng/1224445-president-buharis-full-victory-speech-declaration-by-inec.html

Ambassador Sanders on the  Elections in Senegal - Straight Talk Africa, VOA https://youtu.be/7AM_cZFJ52U

Ambassador Sanders: Nigerians Are Resilient - Straight Talk Africa, VOA https://youtu.be/2OzcHQqHE0I
Dr. Sanders on Al Jazeera Televison - Newhour - http://mediaview.aljazeera.com/video/lZ4yOZpEUE
Dr. Sanders on China Global Television Network - https://america.cgtn.com/2019/02/25/the-heat-nigeria-elections

 

*https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47380663
Buhari statement after re-election: https://www.legit.ng/1224445-president-buharis-full-victory-speech-declaration-by-inec.html

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