Johnnie Carson, an American diplomat, and foreign observer in the 2023 general elections, has shared his thoughts on how President-elect Bola Tinubu was able to secure his victory in the recently concluded 2023 elections.
Tinubu’s victory, according to Carson, was due to three factors.
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.
Carson, the Executive Director of the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), stated this in Washington, DC, when the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, paid an official visit to the institute to discuss the recent elections.
During the elections, he co-led the International Election Observation Mission to Nigeria with the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI).
Carson insisted that Tinubu had undoubtedly won the election and would be sworn in on May 29, unless something dramatic happened with the court.
He emphasized that for a candidate to win an election in Nigeria, as in many other democracies around the world, three things were required, including substantial and significant financial resources.
Others, he claims, include a national working organization and grassroots acceptance.
Speaking specifically on the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Carson said, “on the part of Mr Peter Obi, he did not have the ground game and a national organization.
“Obi is, however, very popular, particularly among the young, educated, urban, and sophisticated.’’
He, however, stated 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 added.
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