Nationwide, officials of the country’s electoral agency, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have arrived at some of the 176,606 polling units scattered across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that make up Nigeria.
Accreditation and voting commenced around 08:30 am in some polling units in parts of Nigeria as the 87.2 million voters with Permanent Voter Cards go to the polls to elect a new president and members of the country’s National Assembly.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari and the three front-runners of the 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of the Labor Party, and Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (APC) have all cast their ballots at their respective polling places.
Buhari cast his vote in his hometown of Daura, Katsina State. He voted alongside his wife, Aisha.
The President, whose two-term tenure of eight years ends on May 29, 2023, is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and a campaigner for his party’s flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Addressing reporters, the President urged Nigerians to vote for the candidate of their choice, adding that nobody has more than one vote.
Also, the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar; and his wife, Titi have voted at Polling Unit 012, Ajiya Ward in the Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The former Vice-President, who addressed journalists, expressed optimism and confidence that he will emerge the winner of the presidential election and succeed President Muhammadu Buhari whose two-term tenure ends on May 29, 2023.
The PDP flag bearer is one of the leading candidates in the race for Aso Rock. Atiku’s major contenders include Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
Atiku was also the PDP candidate in 2019 and he came second with over 11 million votes right behind Buhari who polled over 15 million votes.
The candidate for the APC, Bola Tinubu, voted at a polling place in Bourdillion, Ikoyi, Lagos State. Tinubu arrived at his polling unit with his wife, Remi, and other party chieftains.
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu has cast his vote at a polling unit in Bourdillion, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Addressing reporters, he said “democracy is here to stay” in Nigeria and that he is “too confident of victory”.
He said the voting process is “going smoothly” and “going well”.
On the turnout of voters, the APC candidate said, “This is expected, we need a good turnout and that is the adoption and the commitment to democracy and the democratic process must take place.”
Asked how certain of victory he is, Tinubu said, “I’m too certain.”
While the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi cast his vote at polling unit 19 in the Agulu area of the Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State in Nigeria’s South-East geopolitical zone.
Obi and his wife Margaret cast their vote around 11:45am on Saturday after following the voting queue for about 30 minutes.
Addressing reporters after he voted, Obi said the process was “seamless”.
The LP flag bearer is one of the leading candidates in the race for Aso Rock. The former Anambra governor’s major contenders include Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).
