Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, has lauded the South African national election, saying it exposes Nigeria’s fraudulent polls held last year.

A week after South Africans went to polls, Mr Obi, in a statement shared on his X handle, said, “The outcome of the recent South African election results remains a shining example of what a transparent and efficient democratic electoral process should look like.”

He added, “Nigeria’s electoral process is mired in controversy and lacks transparency. This glaring juxtaposition is a painful reminder of our country’s ongoing struggles with democratic governance.”

Lauding the South African election’s 60 per cent voter turnout, diaspora voting, and results updates in real-time without any form of technical glitches, Mr Obi said, “This is in stark contrast to the show of shame that the giant of Africa, Nigeria, gave the World in 2023.” 

“Nigeria’s 2023, with less than 30 per cent of the voter turnout and over 60 per cent of the polling stations starting late, no diaspora voting, the elections were plagued by allegations of fraud and widespread irregularities, all forms of glitches, despite an enormous expenditure to the tune of about a billion dollars (direct allocation of N313 billion and donor agencies supports), Mr Obi added.

Mr Obi’s outburst comes several months after the Supreme Court affirmed President Bola Tinubu, winner of the 2023 presidential election. 

The South African election was held last week Wednesday. It was adjudged the country’s most competitive since 1994 as the African National Congress failed to win majority seats for the first time. 

Incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa’s ANC polled 40.21 per cent of the votes cast, a huge decline from the 57 per cent it polled in 2019. John Steenhuisn’s Democratic Alliance came second in the election, polling  22 per cent of the votes.

Newly formed former President Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe polled 15 per cent of the vote, displacing radical Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighter party, which polled nine per cent.