Voter registration documents seen by Guardian in
the United Kingdom on eve of election raise fears
of mass rigging
The number of new voters registered in Nigeria
since January 2018 has increased by almost
exactly the same percentage in each of its states,
according to documents seen and analysed by the
Guardian , raising fears that the results of
Saturday ’s presidential election could be open to
mass rigging .
Voters in the country will choose between the
incumbent Muhammadu Buhari , and his main
rival Atiku Abubakar , and more than 70 other
candidates.
Since the last presidential election in 2015, many
more people have become eligible to vote, and
many others have registered to take part in the
polls for the first time, according to a report by
the UK Guardian .
About 10 million new voters signed up between
January 2018 and early 2019 – according to data
released by the Independent National Electoral
Commission– twice the number that signed up in
the first nine months of registration , between
April 2017 and January 2018.
But analysis of the data for each of the country ’s
36 states and its capital shows that INEC has
increased the number of new registered voters by
almost exactly the same percentage across all
states. The correlation is a “ statistical
impossibility ” and does not reflect Nigeria ’s
demographic changes , according to data analysts
working with the Guardian. Additional data seen
by the Guardian also shows irregularities in
registration for the 2015 election , until now
considered to have been free and fair.
On average , voter registration in each state
increased by 2 .2 per cent between April 2017 and
January 2018, and by 7.7 per cent for the whole
registration period ahead of Saturday’ s election .
Plotted on a scatter line graph , there is a 0.99
correlation across all the states, without a single
outlier . According to three separate data analysts ,
the parity cannot be a coincidence .
“ Only God works that closely ,” one analyst said. If
some of the new voters registered are fake it
would imply meddling at the electoral
commission , though it is unclear whether it would
be the ruling party or the opposition that would
stand to benefit.
Saturday ’s election is seen as a referendum on
Buhari ’s first term , which has been marred by his
prolonged absence due to illness , a weak
economy , and the government’ s failure to
effectively tackle corruption and insecurity .
Source
Punchng
No comments:
Post a Comment