Posted by When it comes to the presidential election, according to Johnnie Carson, Bola Tinubu has three advantages over his rivals.
According to Johnnie Carson, an American diplomat who participated as a foreign observer in the general elections of 2023, three factors contributed to Bola Tinubu’s victory.
In Washington, DC, Mr. Carson, an executive officer of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), gave a speech as Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, visited the organization on official business to discuss the recently held elections.
The diplomat claimed to have co-led the International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria during the elections on behalf of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).
He claimed that Mr. Tinubu, the candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had unquestionably won the election and would be sworn in on May 29 absent a dramatic court development.
Do you know why he won? He had the funds, the best national organization working for him, and a strong ground game, he said.
Mr. Carson emphasized that in order for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, as in many other democracies around the world, they needed to possess the three factors, including substantial and significant financial resources.
A national working group and widespread acceptance, in his opinion, are some additional factors.
While Mr. Tinubu, according to him, met all three requirements during the election, the other leading candidates did not.
Speaking specifically about Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s nominee for president, Mr. Carson noted that “he lacked the ground game and a national organization.
However, he added, “Obi is very well-liked, especially among the young, educated, urban, and sophisticated.”.
One of the most competitive polls in Nigeria and all of Africa, according to Mr. Carson, was the presidential election.
But he noted that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needed to step up its game.
“Nigeria merits the best possible electoral system.
He declared, “To me, the issue is not with Tinubu and the other candidates.
President Muhammadu Buhari was praised by Mr. Carson for his dedication to ensuring that Nigeria holds free and fair elections.
The president, according to him, “is a man of outstanding integrity” and has proven this quality in previous elections.
The minister claimed that the conduct of the 2023 elections had significantly improved when compared to where INEC had been and where it was at the time.
While acknowledging that there was room for improvement, the minister claimed that the introduction of new technology by INEC, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), supported the legitimacy of the elections.
He asserts that the BVAS eliminated multiple votes, ghost voters, and fraudulent votes.
According to Mr. Mohammed, a lack of fuel, growing unrest, and an inadvertent cash swap policy all played a role in how the election was conducted.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ebenezer Obadare, a Nigerian, is the chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations, a knowledgeable think tank on African affairs and international relations.
Additionally, he worked for the Reuters News Agency, the international political newspaper The Politico, and Zenger News, a channel whose articles are posted on Forbes.
The minister “presented the facts of the just concluded polls as against skewed narratives of the opposition and naysayers” during his respective interactions with the Think-tanks and the international media.”.
According to NAN, discussions also covered the economy and international relations.
The Agency’s recent investigation into alleged covert programs of coerced abortion of women and girls released from insurgent captivity was covered by Reuters.