Johnnie Carson says Bola Tinubu has three things his opponent doesn’t have in the presidential election
Johnnie Carson, a US diplomat and foreign observer of the 2023 general election, said three factors led to President-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory.
Mr. Carson, director general of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), was speaking in Washington DC when the Secretary of the Department of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made an official visit to the institute to discuss the closed election.
The diplomat said he co-led the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI), the international election observation mission to Nigeria during the election.
According to him, Mr. Tinubu, the ruling candidate of the Progressive All-People’s Congress (APC), has won the election and will be sworn in on May 29, unless something serious happens to him. court.
“Do you know why he won, he has the money, he has the best national organization working for him, and the game on the ground,” he said. Mr. Carson pointed out that for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, like many democracies around the world, it takes all three things, including substantial financial resources.
Others, he said, are national work organizations and institutional acceptance.
He said while Mr. Tinubu had all three criteria in his award pool in the polls, the other top contenders didn’t have them all.
Speaking specifically of the Labor Party presidential candidate, Mr. Carson said: “From Mr. Peter Obi, he has no game on the pitch and no national organization.
“However, Obi is very popular, especially among the young, educated, urban, and stylish,” he said. Mr. Carson said the presidential election was one of the most competitive polls in Nigeria and Africa.
However, he commented that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needs to keep up its game.
“Nigeria deserves the best electoral process.
“For me, it’s not about Tinubu and the other candidates,” he said.
Mr. Carson praised President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to holding free and fair elections for Nigeria. He said the president “is a man of exceptional integrity” and he showed that quality in the last election.
For his part, the Minister said that where INEC came from and how it is now, there have been great improvements in conducting the 2023 elections.
Acknowledging that there is still room for improvement, the Minister said the introduction of the new two-way voter recognition system ‘BVAS’; of CENI reinforced the credibility of the elections.
According to him, BVAS has eliminated voter fraud, ghost voters, and multiple ballots.
Mr. Mohammed said the election took place amid fuel shortages, growing insecurity, and the wrong timing of cash swaps. The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reported that the minister also had commitments to the Council on Foreign Relations, a well-versed advisory organization on African affairs and foreign relations led by a Nigerian, Ebenezer Obadare, as president.
He’s also at Reuters news agency; Politico, an international political newspaper, and Zenger News, a channel that publishes its content on Forbes.
In his respective interactions with international media and think tanks, the Minister “presented the facts about the polls that just ended against the biased explanations of the opposition. and opponents”.
NAN reports that the interactions are also related to the economy and foreign affairs.
At Reuters, the Agency’s recent investigation into alleged clandestine forced abortion programs for women and girls released from insurgent captivity was discussed.
