After six months of intense campaigning, political acrobatics and sometimes hard-to-predict machinations, E-Day is finally upon us.
The wave of rallies came at a frenetic pace while the antics of politicians and their supporters were on rapid display, leading to the much-awaited February 25.
Today is pregnant with promise and will be one for the history books. With bated breaths, Nigerians from all walks of life are expectant of the outcomes of the presidential election.
This presidential election has been described as the "most important" in a long time. How it will pan out and the events that will unfold remain to be seen.
As it all plays out, TheCable will be your trusted source of information every step of the way -- until a winner is announced and the lights go off in INEC's collation centre.
Update: A police vehicle tags along as election materials leave Anaocha LGA for polling units and wards, 40 minutes before the stipulated commencement of the exercise.
Location: PU 4, Ekei Primary School, Owa-Eke, Ika north-east.
Update: Voters are already waiting for INEC to commence the process. Several elderly voters arrived as early as 7:30am. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8.00am
Location: Kano
Update: Residents in hundreds already trooped out to vote at Government Girls Junior Secondary School, Kwankwaso, Madobi LG. This is where the presidential candidate of NNPP, Rabiu Kwankwaso, will cast his vote. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8:05am
Location: Ikeja LGA, Lagos
Update: Less than 30 minutes before the start of the election, INEC staff are yet to depart for their respective polling units. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8:07am
Location: PU007, security post, Wuse, Zone 2, Abuja.
Update: Observers and journalists are stationed at the polling unit of Bola Tinubu, the APC presidential candidate, as they await the arrival of INEC officials and election materials. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Update: Voters are waiting for INEC officials at the polling unit where Nyesom Wike, the state governor, is expected to vote. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Location: PU004, Primary School 1, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja.
Update: The INEC official says drivers of vehicles meant to convey them to polling units are waiting to confirm payment before they move. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Location: PU 003, Sarkin Yara A, Kofar Baru Gidan Niyan, Daura, Katsina.
Update: The advance presidential villa security team has arrived at the PU where President Muhammadu Buhari will be voting.
Location: Ward 5, PU 005, Post Office, Ibadan north, Oyo state.
Update: No INEC staff on the ground. The voter register has not been pasted. Three NSCDC officers and a policeman are present. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8:26am
Location: PU 015, Amatutu, Agulu Town, Anaocha LGA, Anambra
Location: Ward 5, PU05, Ibadan north LGA, Oyo state.
Update: Voters eat while waiting for INEC officials. Others are seated around. "It's almost 8:30. They should have been here," an elderly man said. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8:30am
Location: PU 015, Amatutu, Agulu Town, Anaocha LGA, Anambra
Location: Ward 5, PU03. Ibadan north LGA, Oyo state.
Update: INEC officials just arrived. Setting up in progress. Maryam, the presiding officer, told TheCable that they were delayed by the bus driver. She also apologised to the voters. #NigeriaElections2023
Time: 8:28am
Location: Ahentse LGA primary school, Benue.
Update: INEC officials have distributed materials and have now left for the voting centre where many polling units have been merged because of insecurity. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Time: 8:41am
Location: Attah Iloabuchi, Ihe ward, PU: 008, Enugu
Location: Omi Primary School, PU 003, Ika north-east, Delta state.
Update: INEC is ready. Voters are present in their numbers. Voting is about to commence at the polling unit of Ifeanyi Okowa, vice-presidential candidate of the PDP.
DRIVERS PAYMENT 'CONFIRMED' IN LAGOS LGA
Time: 8:45 am
Location: Ikeja LGA, Lagos
Update: "Payment confirmed" as vehicles arrive at the RAC to convey INEC officials and election materials.
ATIKU ARRIVES TO VOTE
Update: @atiku, the PDP presidential candidate, has arrived at his PU in Ajiya, Yola north LGA of Adamawa to cast his vote.
Update: EFCC officials show up at the polling unit of @officialABAT, the APC presidential candidate. Meanwhile, the election is yet to start as voters await the arrival of INEC officials.
PWDs PRIORITISED IN ABUJA POLLING UNIT
Time: 9:15am
Location: PU073, Old Parade Ground, City Centre.
Update: Voting has commenced and persons with disabilities are allowed to vote first.
The daughters of @IAOkowa , Delta state governor and PDP vice-presidential candidate, are out to vote at Omi primary school, PU 003, Ika north-east, Delta.
Update: The party agents and electoral officers are the only ones here.
"We got here around 6:20am and arranged everything. Only one person has voted. We are waiting for the other voters," Olufade Kayode, the presiding officer, said.
Location: Rivers state
Update: INEC officials have not arrived at most polling units in Obio-Akpor LGA, while voters are seated waiting for them.
The state of things at PU 019, Ward 2, Agulu, Anaocha LGA of Anambra state. The time is 9:31am. The LP presidential candidate Peter Obi is yet to vote.
Location: Obodocha square, PU 004, Neke Oyofo ward, Ezeagu LGA, Enugu state
Update: Accreditation and voting have just commenced
Time: 9:18am
Location: Ward 7, PU 049, Ifako-Ijaye, Lagos
Update: INEC officials are yet to arrive, while the names of accredited voters are yet to be pasted. There is also no set-up of election materials and the voters are waiting without any directives.
JUST IN: OKOWA ARRIVES TO VOTE
Ifeanyi Okowa, the PDP vice-presidential candidate, has arrived at his polling unit in Omi Primary school, Owa-Alero, Delta state.
Update: The list of registered voters has been pasted. But only those whose surnames start with alphabet A have seen their names. Due to this issue, accreditation and voting are yet to start.
Update: BVAS is malfunctioning. Only two voters have been accredited and cast their votes. The INEC technical officer is trying to use a backup BVAS but to no avail.
Update: INEC officials are just setting up while the voters check for their names on the voters' register. The presiding officer is unable to log into the BVAS for accreditation.
SPOTTED: ORTOM VOTES FOR OBI
@GovSamuelOrtom, Benue state governor, has cast his vote for Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party. Ortom belongs to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He voted at 10:04am.
Update: There was a mild altercation between the voters and party agents of APC and NNPP. The voters chased them out of the school compound. #NigeriaElections2023#NigeriaDecides
Armed security officials have been deployed and order has been restored.
Update: Accreditation and voting are ongoing. Adebisi Abisola, the presiding officer, said "the exercise is not going smoothly. The BVAS stopped working at a point but it has been fixed".
Update: Accreditation and voting are ongoing smoothly.
Location: Agulu 2 Ward, PU19, Amatutu Village, Anaocha LGA, Anambra.
Update: At 10:18am, EFCC officials inspected Peter Obi's voting point.
Location: PU098, First Gen Mortgage Bank, Area 8, Abuja.
Update: Ad-hoc staff are just setting up at 10:26am. The assistant presiding officer said the lateness was a result of confusion about the exact place to set up.
Update: Voting materials are yet to arrive at the polling unit of Kashim Shettima, the APC vice-presidential candidate.
Update: In several polling units at Barnawa ward, Kaduna South LGA, voting had not commenced as of 10:30am, as INEC officials were yet to arrive with election materials.
Time: 10:48am
Location: Polling unit 008, Umunama, Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo state
Update: INEC officials are yet to arrive. Security agents are present. Voters are waiting.
Update: Voters are seen sitting on the floor while waiting for vote counting.
Location: Giri, Gwagwalada Area council, Abuja
Update: Massive turnout at the polling units situated in the staff quarters of the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA). In November 2021, gunmen invaded the staff quarters and abducted a professor and his two children.
Location: PU 02 Dogo/ Game Dutsi LGA, Katsina
Update: Idi Rukiya, 68, has just cast her vote. She said the process is fast and stress-free.
Location: Ward 11, PU 008, Ezinihitte Mbaise, Imo state
Update: INEC officials are yet to arrive. The youth leader is trying to appease voters who are getting impatient.
Location: PU012, Narayi, Chikun LGA, Kaduna.
Update: An elderly woman is being supported to cast her vote.
WIKE STILL UNABLE TO VOTE
Time: 11:30am
Update: Confusion as voters get impatient in Nyesom Wike's polling unit due to the malfunctioning BVAS. @GovWike expressed disappointment over his inability to vote.
The 2023 presidential election holds today and residents of Agulu community, in Anambra state, are gearing up for a poll that may seal their fate for the next decade. Agulu is the ancestral home of Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
Petty traders in the community were already awake to begin their daily businesses as early as 6:30 am. Farmers walked the community’s tarred roads interspersed by palm trees and cassava plantations as chirping creatures and hooting owls sang their tunes into first light.
FACT CHECK: Viral audio of Atiku, Tambuwal and Okowa plotting to rig election is doctored
An audio of Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), plotting to rig the general election that is hours away has gone viral.
In the said recording, Ifeanyi Okowa, vice-presidential candidate of the PDP, and Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto and director-general of the party’s presidential campaign council, could also be heard.
Checks by TheCable have found the recording to be deepfake.
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines deepfake as: “An image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.”
It is less than 24 hours to Nigeria’s presidential election and Yakubu Isa, a resident of Abuja, the country’s capital, is still unsure of who to vote for. He said all the political candidates are cut from the same cloth and it doesn’t really matter who wins.
Although he admitted that some are better than the rest, he said seeing past the disguise is the true challenge.
A few blocks from the family house of Namadi Sambo is the residence of Datti Baba-Ahmed. Both men share a few things in common. The former is an ex-vice president while the latter seeks to become the next vice-president of Nigeria...
...and they are both from Tudun Wada, a town in Zaria LGA of Kaduna state.
On a good day, presidential elections in Nigeria are a straight fight between the candidate of the ruling party and that of the leading opposition party.
What many thought would be a head-to-head battle between Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) suddenly took a different turn when Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) joined the fray,...