Kunle Awosiyan
An American diplomat and a foreign observer in the Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, Johnnie Carson has said that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu actually won the presidential election conducted on February 25 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
He said this when the Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed visited his office at the United States Institute of Peace a few days ago.
Carson said, “Mr. Bola Tinubu undoubtedly won the polls because he has three things that his opponents did not have going to the presidential election.
Mr Carson, an Executive Officer of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) who co-led National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI), International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria during the elections said that the president-elect would be sworn-in come May 29, except something happens dramatically with the court.
“Do you know why he won, he got the money, he had the best national organisation that worked for him and the ground game,’’ he said.
Mr Carson emphasised that for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, like a lot of democracy in the globe, the three things, including substantial and significant financial resources were needed.
Others, according to him, are a national working organisation and a grassroots acceptance.
He said while Mr Tinubu had all the three criteria in his kitty during the polls, the other major contenders did not have all.
Speaking specifically on the Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Carson said, “on the part of Mr Peter Obi, he did not have the ground game and a national organisation.
“Obi is, however, very popular, particularly among the young, educated, urban and sophisticated,’’ he said.
Mr Carson said the presidential election was one of the most competitive polls in Nigeria and in Africa.
He, however, observed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needed to up its game.
“Nigeria deserves the very best electoral process.
“To me, the problem is not with Tinubu and the other candidates,’’ he said.
Mr Carson hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment in delivering a free and fair election for Nigeria.
He said the president “is a man of outstanding integrity’’ and he demonstrated the attribute in the past elections.
On his part, the minister said considering where INEC was coming from and where it were today, there were massive improvements in the conduct of the 2023 polls.
Conceding that there was room for improvements, the minister said the introduction of a new technology Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) by INEC underpinned the credibility of the elections.
According to him, BVAS cut out fraudulent votes, ghost voters and multiple votes.
Mr Mohammed said the election was conducted against the backdrop of fuel shortage, mounting insecurity and poorly timed cash swap policy.
The minister also had engagements with the Council on Foreign Relations, a well versed think-tank on African affairs and foreign relations chaired by a Nigerian, Ebenezer Obadare.
He was also at the Reuters News Agency; The Politico, an international political newspaper, and Zenger News, a channel that publishes its contents on Forbes.
During his respective interactions with the Think-tanks and international media, the minister “presented the facts of the just concluded polls as against skewed narratives of the opposition and naysayers”.