Much of the young online support has gone to Obi, 61, an entrepreneur and former member of the PDP who has campaigned on a platform to reform Nigeria’s state institutions, which are often plagued by corruption. defile. He also said he would formally apologize to the victims of police brutality, a promise that speaks directly to the EndSARS movement.
While the successor parties focus their attention on the traditional media, the Labor Party is supported by prominent activists and influencers. Youth organizers used Twitter spaces and hashtags like #ObiDatti2023, #obeyAnd #1MillionMarch4PeterObi to rally support. They’ve been online offline, volunteering Door-to-door to spread the party’s message. Supporters have created online challenges such as “talk to someone about Peter Obi” and give a application to distribute content and campaign messages. The community donation partyhelp it overcome the large funding gap between it and its two successors.
The odds have been piling up against Obi’s Labor Party, which garnered just over 5,000 votes in the most recent presidential election in 2019. But this year, the party’s vote has risen to 6, 1 million — more than 25 percent of voters — puts the party in third place, not far behind the PDP’s 6.9 million. The party won six Senate seats and three House seats. In Lagos, the country’s economic hub, their candidate defeated the ruling party. It even received the largest share of votes at the polling station inside the presidential residence.
“The saying ‘four people tweet in one room’ is undervalued,” Ayomide said. “I am very happy with how things turned out. I think we made a statement.
Since the presidential and senatorial elections, online activist networks have continued to operate, pointing to electoral irregularities and voter suppression, while challenging the role of money in politics. treat. Some are trying to gather a database of results from specific polling stations in the hope of providing records that can prove irregularities in court. Both top opposition candidates allegations of election fraud and violence during the election.
Rinu Oduala, a youth activist and founder of Connect Hub, an advocacy organization, said: “Many young people have used social media to campaign for their favorite candidates, and this has resulted in several youth-friendly candidates winning elections and disrupting the political environment. and in favor of democracy and against state violence. “And when politicians fail to deliver on their promises or engage in corrupt practices, we criticize them on social media, put them under greater scrutiny, create a responsible.”
Nigeria’s political establishment appears to have awakened to the power of online caucuses. The country held state gubernatorial elections over the weekend of March 18. In the meantime, the ruling PDP and APC both stepped up their social media campaigns. The governor of Lagos APC, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, began tweeting more often and announced a series of policies clearly designed to win youth votes, including a commitment to rethink the country’s crypto ban.
The full election results are still being announced. While the APC won the state gubernatorial election in Lagos with more than 762,000 votes, the Labor Party moved ahead of the PDP to come second with 312,000 votes. Preliminary results show that the party has also become a major candidate in several states in southeastern Nigeria.
The results reinforced the idea that the “four people tweeting in the room” are now part of the political trend and that Nigerian politicians cannot, as they often do, dismiss young voices with slogans like “no online voting unit.”
Adebowale Adedayo, a content creator and activist known as Mr. foundation as an influencer to advocate for youth participation. “If the EndSARS protests fail to demonstrate that online advocacy translates into real-world action, then the record number of youth participation in the 2023 election cycle will settle any debate. “
