Ensure democracy prevails, anti-Tinubu protesters tell US government

Some Nigerians in the United States have staged a protest against the electoral victory of Bola Tinubu, the president-elect.

In videos posted on social media on Monday, some persons were seen waving the Nigerian flag in front of the White House while others held the American flag in what appeared to be a call for solidarity.

Nigeria 🇳🇬 #RestoreOurMandateINEC Peaceful Protest 🪧 at @WhiteHouse United States 🇺🇸

Hear firsthand testimony from A Nigerian Polling Unit Agent @MigrateGGRLtd Barr. Samuel Adewusi an attorney here in America 🇺🇸, who served in Badagry Area of Lagos. He was live with us at the… pic.twitter.com/AwYWi2pgfO

Advertisement

— Mr. Stephen OSEMWEGIE (@PeterObiUSA) April 3, 2023

Nigerians protest at the White House demand a return of their stolen mandate by Tinubu and INEC. pic.twitter.com/ogImamDaMG

Advertisement

— Peter Obi Grassroots Mobilization. (@PO_GrassRootM) April 4, 2023

Some of the protesters held placards with different messages — “Democracy under threat in Nigeria”, “Let Nigerian votes count”, and “Nigerians reject the election result”.

A man who identified himself as a lawyer and a polling unit officer in the presidential election said the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) machines were bypassed in the electoral process.

He attributed the low voter turnout to ethnic profiling, adding that the injustice suppressed democracy and was a crime against humanity.

“It was serious violence that I witnessed myself. They told people: You cannot vote because you look a certain way or you’re from a certain part of Nigeria. That is not what Nigeria is all about. That is now what democracy is all about. I can tell you now that its a crime against humanity and I think United States should never stamp on this. We Nigerians in the United States should never stamp on this,” the man could be heard saying.

“I was doing some work trying to convince regular people to vote for Labour Party in Badagry West and they were telling me our votes never counted in the past, why should it count now? And I told them No, INEC said they have BVAS, and with that same BVAS they would transmit results electronically. I was wrong.

“On February 25th, serving as a polling unit officer, I saw that the BVAS was never used. Yes, they filled out the forms and everything but no transmission was done. None. Not in the Badagry West where I served as a polling unit officer.”

He added that the results from the presidential election were never uploaded and that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) went ahead to declare a winner while there were still problems with results upload and transmission.

The protester said Tinubu failed to meet the constitutional requirements and asked the US to do the “right” thing and stand with Nigeria.

“Just like our vice-principal said, there is no president-elect. One of the most important things we have to realise is that the person who is elected president has to meet the constitutional requirements,” he said.

“We want the United States Congress to do the right thing — to make sure they stand with the majority of the Nigerian people and make sure that democracy actually prevails in Nigeria.”

The US All Progressives Congress (APC) chapter had said it would stage a counter-march in support of Tinubu.