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☆ Nigerian ruling party candidate declared winner in highly disputed election
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

ABUJA, Nigeria - March 1, 2023: Ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu, addresses supporters during celebrations at his campaign headquarters. Tinubu won Nigeria's highly disputed weekend election, electoral authorities said on Wednesday, securing the former Lagos governor the presidency of Africa's most populous democracy. Nigeria's ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was declared the winner of the country's presidential election on Wednesday after polling was marred by transparency concerns and widespread technical problems. The APC, PDP and Labour Party won 12 states apiece, while the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate Rabiu Kwankwaso claimed one state. However, the PDP, Labour Party and several other opposition parties had already rejected the results by the time Tinubu was declared president-elect on Wednesday.

☆ Nigeria's Tinubu defends win in disputed presidential poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said Tinubu garnered 8.79 million votes in the weekend election, ahead of main opposition challenger Atiku Abubakar's 6.98 million votes. Peter Obi, an outsider popular with younger and more educated urban voters, garnered 6.1 million votes. "I am very happy I have been elected the president of the federal republic of Nigeria," Tinubu said to cheers in Abuja. Nigeria's election was meant to be its fairest and most open contest to date. As Lagos governor, Tinubu won praise for partially fixing some of the cities problems, including reducing violent crime, waste collection and traffic.

☆ Fact Check-Video circulated alongside claim of vote rigging in Nigeria is from at least 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Social media users sharing the clip present it as if it relates to Nigeria’s most recent vote, held on Feb. 25 (bit.ly/3Z6SPIQ). One account posting the video here wrote: “INEC Staff Seen On Camera Rigging The Presidential Election In Favour Of APC.” APC refers to the ruling All Progressives Congress party. However, the video is old and does not relate to events associated with the 2023 election. The 2023 presidential election has been disputed by opposition parties and the public as votes have been tallied (here and here). Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts here .

☆ Fact Check-Video of former Nigerian cabinet minister challenging INEC chairman dates to 2015
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video of a former Nigerian cabinet minister saying he has lost confidence in the chairman of the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been falsely linked on social media to the 2023 general election. Moreover, social media users have misidentified the INEC chairman. The video shows Attahiru Jega, who was chairman at the time the video was filmed but who retired three months later, on June 30, 2015 (here). Mahmoud Yakubu succeeded Jega as chairman, as was tweeted by the INEC (here) and reported by Nigerian news outlets (here) and (here). Read more about our work to fact-check social media posts (here).

☆ Partial results of disputed Nigeria election show Tinubu in lead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAGOS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Provisional results from Nigeria's disputed presidential election over the weekend showed Bola Tinubu from the ruling party in the lead, a Reuters tally of votes in 25 of the country's 36 states showed on Tuesday. Electoral commission results from the states showed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress party (APC) was ahead with about 36% or 7 million of valid votes counted, with Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) trailing close behind with 30% or nearly 6 million valid votes. Peter Obi of the smaller Labour Party got 20% or about 3.8 million votes. More results were expected to show the winner later on Tuesday. INEC had promised to upload results directly from each polling unit to its website in the election to replace outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, but most were unable to do so immediately.

☆ Nigerian parties criticise slow pace of weekend election count
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAGOS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Nigeria was to resume announcing presidential election results on Monday amid complaints of irregularities as opposition parties criticised the slow pace at which the results were being uploaded on to the election commission's website. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has so far released official results from only one of 36 states. By 0830 GMT, INEC had uploaded results from 52,236 polling units out of a total 178,846, its website showed. "We take full responsibility for the problems and regret the distress that they have caused the candidates, political parties and the electorate," said INEC. In northern Kano state, police said suspected thugs had attacked a campaign office for a smaller opposition party and set the building on fire, killing two people.

☆ Mexicans Rally Nationwide Against President’s Electoral Overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Juan Montes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Protestors say that the Mexican president’s overhaul of election systems threatens democracy. MEXICO CITY—Hundreds of thousands of Mexicans rallied across the country for the second time in less than four months against President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ’s overhaul of the country’s independent election agency, saying it will cripple its ability to organize next year’s presidential election. In one of the largest protests against Mr. López Obrador’s administration, more than 150,000 demonstrators filled Mexico’s large Zócalo square and adjacent streets in the historic district of the country’s capital, a senior police official said. Protesters waved flags, umbrellas and banners with the distinctive pink colors of the National Electoral Institute, also known as INE. Others wore pink caps and clothes.

☆ 'Playing with fire': Mass protest planned against Mexico electoral overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Mexico's opposition plans a mass protest on Sunday against President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's drive to shrink the independent electoral authority, arguing the changes threaten democracy - an accusation he vigorously denies. Mexico's Congress last week approved a major overhaul of the National Electoral Institute (INE), which Lopez Obrador has repeatedly attacked as corrupt and inefficient. According to the INE, the president's overhaul violates the constitution, curbs the institute's independence and eliminates thousands of jobs dedicated to safeguarding the electoral process, making it harder to hold free and fair elections. This week he called the INE "anti-democratic" and a tool of the ruling elite, accusing it of fomenting electoral fraud. Critics of the INE overhaul argue Lopez Obrador is not confident MORENA can retain power without interference in the electoral process.

☆ Nigerians vote for new president, braving long delays in hope of bringing change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

People read newspapers at a newspaper stand in Onitsha, Nigeria, on February 26, 2023 following he Nigeria presidential and general election. By the evening, some polling stations were already counting ballots, while voting was still going on at others and had not taken place elsewhere. said 23-year-old Halima Sherif, whose polling station in the northern city of Kano had not started operating by closing time. He also acknowledged the delays but said voters would be able to cast their ballots. Yakubu said at a later briefing that voting would take place on Sunday in several wards in Yenagoa that had experienced severe disruption on Saturday.

☆ Nigerian soldiers patrol ahead of election, land borders shut
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Camillus Eboh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"Internal movements have been restricted to the polling units. There will also be no movement of persons across national borders," the ministry of interior said in a statement. The candidate for Enugu East district and the driver of a campaign minibus belonging to another party were killed in coordinated attacks in Enugu State in the southeast. "Materials already delivered for the senatorial election will remain in the custody of the central bank in the state until the new date for the election," Yakubu told a news conference. Flanked by the head of the police, Yakubu said INEC was on guard against possible attacks on its electronic system.

☆ Mexican Legislators Vote to Cut Election Agency’s Budget and Staff
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Juan Montes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Legislation to overhaul Mexico’s election agency was supported by the country’s ruling party. MEXICO CITY—Mexico’s Senate passed laws to cut the budget and staff of the country’s independent election agency, a measure that opponents said risks weakening the country’s democracy by hampering the agency’s ability to organize reliable elections. The Senate voted 72-50 on Wednesday to overhaul the country’s National Electoral Institute, with lawmakers of the ruling Morena party and its allies supporting the bills and opposition parties voting against them. The four electoral bills were previously approved by the lower house of Congress.

☆ Mexico passes electoral overhaul that critics warn weakens democracy
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MEXICO CITY, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Mexican lawmakers on Wednesday approved a controversial overhaul of the body overseeing the country's elections, a move critics warn will weaken democracy ahead of a presidential vote next year. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador argues the reorganization will save $150 million a year and reduce the influence of economic interests in politics. The Senate approved the reform, which still needs to be signed into law by Lopez Obrador, 72 to 50. The INE has played an important role in the shift to multi-party democracy since Mexico left federal one-party rule in 2000. Lopez Obrador has repeatedly attacked the electoral agency, saying voter fraud robbed him of victory in the 2006 presidential election.

☆ 'Unpredictable' election in Africa's largest economy is set to resonate around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since ending military dictatorship in 1999, Africa's most populous nation and largest economy is conducting its seventh election. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, speaks during the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York. Leena Koni Hoffmann, associate fellow of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, told CNBC on Monday that the presidential election will be the "most unpredictable" since the transition to civilian rule. Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, Koni Hoffmann noted "missed opportunities" and "self-inflicted crises" under Buhari's regime. Economists panned the decision, which Koni Hoffmann suggested rendered Nigeria and its neighbors more vulnerable to the damage of the pandemic.

Abuja, Nigeria CNN —President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed Nigeria’s central bank to reissue old 200-naira ($0.43) banknotes withdrawn just days ago as concerns grow that the botched introduction of new money could disrupt general elections later this month. In a televised broadcast Thursday, Buhari expressed sympathy for Nigerians experiencing hardship and announced that the old 200- naira note will return to circulation for 60 days. The higher denomination notes remain canceled but can be exchanged at the central bank and other designated points, he said. He also assured Nigerians that the supply of cash would improve in the coming days. “I have been reliably informed that since the commencement of this program, about 2.1 trillion naira ($4.5 billion) out of the banknotes previously held outside the banking system, had been successfully retrieved,” he said.

☆ Factbox: Nigeria election 2023: what you need to know and what's at stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is what you need to know about the election. Tinubu and Atiku have significant powerbases across Nigeria, while Obi is banking on frustration over the economy and insecurity to turn voters against the two major parties. Obi, who left the PDP last year and was Atiku's running mate in 2019, casts himself as a reformist willing to overhaul Nigeria's political system. But on policy, there is little separating the main candidates. Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia Chege, Gareth Jones and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'It hurts my soul': Brazil's Bolsonaro ends post-election silence
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Bolsonaro said he had kept silent for almost 40 days, adding, "it hurts my soul." Who decides which way the armed forces go are you," Bolsonaro told his supporters at the gates of the presidential residence. In his ambiguous comments, Bolsonaro did not endorse their call for a military intervention, but said the armed forces would respect Brazil's Constitution. Bolsonaro told his supporters that the armed forces were Brazil's bulwark to prevent socialism in the country, adding that "nothing is lost" and their cause would prevail one day. "The Armed Forces are united.

[1/2] People take part in a protest against the electoral reform proposed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and in support of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, November 13, 2022. Without opposition support, Lopez Obrador cannot pass his planned electoral overhaul, a constitutional reform which requires a two-thirds majority in Congress. Critics view that as a presidential power grab, something Lopez Obrador denies. If the bill founders, Lopez Obrador has mooted lesser changes that only require a simple majority. Lopez Obrador may have a last chance to reshape the INE when four of its 11 commissioners step down next April.

The United States on Saturday granted Chevron a six-month license to operate in Venezuela, reinstating oil trading privileges it had, while preventing exchanges of cash and requiring the crude cargoes go to U.S. refiners. Executives at Venezuelan state firm PDVSA initially welcomed the authorization for a partial return to the United States, once the country's most important market. In addition, European oil companies Eni (ENI.MI) and Repsol won U.S. approvals to take Venezuelan crude for debt repayment. Chevron's Venezuelan oil cargoes face potential seizures by creditors that have arbitration claims and court judgments, said trading experts and lawyers. Washington placed tight reins on the oil imports to win support from a Congress skeptical of deals with Maduro.

☆ Mexico's president dismisses mass protest against electoral overhaul
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] An areal view shows people protesting against the electoral reform proposed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and in support of the National Electoral Institute (INE), in Monterrey, Mexico, November 13, 2022. "They did it in favor of corruption, in favor of racism, classism, discrimination," Lopez Obrador said in a regular news conference. Lopez Obrador, has long criticized the country's electoral authorities, including accusing them of helping to engineer his defeats when he ran for the presidency in 2006 and 2012. The president argues his plan will make the INE more democratic by allowing the public to vote for its board. Reporting by Mexico City Newsroom; Editing by Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mexicans Protest President’s Plans to Overhaul Election Agency
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Juan Montes | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

MEXICO CITY—Tens of thousands of Mexicans demonstrated on Sunday across the country against an overhaul of the electoral system proposed by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that opponents say risks undermining Mexico’s democracy. Demonstrators took to the streets in more than two dozen cities, waving flags and wearing caps and T-shirts in the pink colors of Mexico’s autonomous agency in charge of organizing elections. They shouted slogans in defense of the National Electoral Institute, or INE, as the agency is known.

☆ Tens of thousands protest Mexican president's electoral reform plan
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Demonstrators march against the electoral reform proposed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and in support of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in Mexico City, Mexico, November 13, 2022. In the past, Lopez Obrador pursued contentious policies by pitching referendums - including on the cancellation of a part-built airport - to claim popular mandates for his objectives. Organizers put the number at hundreds of thousands but some political allies of Lopez Obrador gave far lower estimates. Lopez Obrador posted a video message on his Twitter as he celebrated his 69th birthday - but did not address the protests. Reporting by Stefanie Eschenbacher, Dave Graham and Carlos Carrillo in Mexico City; editing by Diane CraftOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Brazil's Lula says Bolsonaro push for military audit of voting machines 'deplorable'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] An electronic voting machine is seen during a simulation voting process of the electoral systems to be used in the Brazilian presidential election in Brasilia, Brazil September 15, 2022. The military audit was requested by Bolsonaro last year to get the military to identify problems with a voting system that he alleged - without proof - was liable to fraud. Bolsonaro, a far-right politician who once served as an army captain, repeatedly claimed without evidence that the electronic voting system was vulnerable. While the armed forces' report on the security of the electronic voting machines, made public on Wednesday, did not find specific issues it said there were vulnerabilities in the computer code that could potentially be exploited. "It is not possible to guarantee that programs executed in the electronic voting machines are free from malicious insertions that alter their functioning," the military said in a statement.

☆ Brazil election marked by disinformation networks, says Carter Center
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SAO PAULO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The Carter Center said on Friday that Brazil's presidential election was marked by a proliferation of sophisticated disinformation attacking the voting system and then questioning the impartiality of the national electoral authority. The U.S.-based non-profit group, a pioneer of international election observation since the 1980s, said that both the winning leftist candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and far-right President Jair Bolsonaro were targets of disinformation. In the second round of the election, the focus shifted to questioning the impartiality of the TSE, the Carter Center said. In the final weeks of the campaign, the court decided to expand its ability to rapidly remove content from social media platforms, a move the Carter Center said "raised concerns about interference with fundamental rights." Lula, a former president, narrowly won the run-off by 50.9% against 49.1% for Bolsonaro in Brazil's most divisive election in decades.

☆ Brazil's Bolsonaro to appeal to top court ahead of Sunday's election runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Anthony Boadle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

This further raised concerns about disruptions before or after Sunday's vote pitting Bolsonaro against former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. In its ruling on Wednesday, the TSE asked Brazil's top public prosecutor to investigate the possible intention of the Bolsonaro camp to disrupt the election in its final days. Now he has claimed fraud involving campaign radio spots, adding to expectations that he will contest the result if he loses to Lula. Neither the Defense Ministry nor the Army replied to a request for confirmation that the military commanders met with Bolsonaro on Wednesday night. O Globo newspaper reported two weeks ago that Bolsonaro had ordered the military not to publish that finding.

☆ Brazil electoral court cracks down on online disinformation ahead of Lula-Bolsonaro runoff
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

BRASILIA — Brazil’s national electoral authority is announcing moves to crack down harder on online disinformation in a fierce presidential campaign between far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro and leftist challenger Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The Superior Electoral Court (TSE) said the measures are intended to curb the “distribution and sharing of knowingly untrue or gravely decontextualized information affecting the electoral process,” according to the resolution. The tougher stance, defined by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who currently runs the TSE, reflects a more aggressive approach to a tidal wave of dirty campaigning that has engulfed Brazil ahead of the Oct. 30 runoff. Brazilian broadcasters have also said they have been prohibited from using the words “ex-convict,” “thief” or “corrupt” when speaking about Lula. Moraes said the platforms had helped keep disinformation within reasonable bounds ahead of the election’s first-round vote on Oct. 2.

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