Nigeria polls: Uhuru meets AU observers, calls for impartiality

Former President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on African Union poll observers to exercise impartiality during Nigeria's general elections on Saturday.

The AU-Kenya Peace Envoy said the observers' mandate is to witness the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria elect their leaders in a neutral environment as possible.

"We are here to witness the people decide for themselves and to ensure that the process has been run in a manner in which the will shall be the victor," Uhuru said.

Nigerians will go to their seventh General Election since Independence to elect a new President, a Vice President and members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is ineligible to run due to the constitutional term limit having been elected twice but Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ruling All Progressives Congress candidate is a front-runner to succeed him. 

Eighteen political parties are in the presidential contest, the highest number of parties in Nigeria’s election history, the previous record had stood at 73 political parties in the 2019 polls.

Uhuru flew to Nigeria on Tuesday to lead the AU poll observation mission and on Wednesday, he held a meeting with the 90-member delegation of the AUEOM drawn from across 55 African Union member states.

The retired president told members of the AUEOM to stay true to the mission's mandate of observing the electoral process and ensuring it is conducted in a free, credible and transparent manner.

Uhuru emphasised that to fulfil the role, they need to work together to ensure the people of Nigeria exercise their democratic rights by voting for their leaders of choice.

To be elected in the first round, a presidential candidate must amass over 25 per cent of total valid votes in at least 24 of the 36 states. 

If no candidate meets the threshold, a second round of voting will be held featuring the top candidate and the runner-up with majority votes in most states.

Front-runner Tinibu has Senator for Borno Central Kashim Shettima as his running-mate while the Labour Party has Peter Obi as the presidential candidate and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed as his running-mate. 

The New Nigeria Peoples Party presidential nominee is Rabiu Kwankwaso and Isaac Idahosa is his running-mate.

People's Democratic Party has fronted Atiku Abubakar as its flag-bearer and nominated Ifeanyi Okowa and his running mate.

In the National Assembly elections, all 109 seats in the Senate will be up for election while voters will cast their ballots to elect 360 members in the House of Representatives.

The polls will be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) which was established in 1998.