This Saturday, we vote in Nigeria for the presidential and legislative elections, a crucial ballot for the most populous country on the continent. After two consecutive terms, President Muhammadu Buhari is not running again. There is a lot of uncertainty around this vote, caused in particular by the shortages. Even the electoral commission warned about the lack of fuel. A reality that exhausts Nigerians on a daily basis.
Report to Jos from our special correspondent, Amelie Tulet
From the white gate of the gas station in the Dogon Karfe district to the next bend, there is a long string of about sixty vehicles stationary. The first fifteen may have fuel today. In seventh position, Kamji, an agricultural entrepreneur, has been in the queue for more than 24 hours.
” If I don’t have gas, they can’t vote »
This man, who is in his fifties, remains calm despite his fatigue: “ We were there around 7am yesterday. I hope there will be fuel, that I can travel to my home area, it’s about 150 km away. It’s not just me. We have to go there as a family. If I don’t have gas, my family will have to stay, they can’t vote. »
To relieve him, his younger brother, Daniel, a sociology student, slept in the car. It was cold that night. He stretched his legs near the vehicle, his eyes red with fatigue: At all times I have to help him, but I had other commitments. Leaving everything to come and help him in this mess, it generates stress. This general situation weighs on me. »
” I have to vote for someone who will change things »
Less than a hundred meters from the gas station, without hiding, dealers sell fuel three times the official price. Kamji cannot afford such an expense. His suppressed anger peaks in his voice: Nothing works normally. Do you earn your living? You still have to wait, wait, wait for gas, and you’re not even sure you have any. Everything is uncertain; I have to vote for someone who will change things in Nigeria. At least we made a decision as a family to try a direction that we hope will help us.. »
It’s past 10 a.m., the white gas station gate is still closed. If he manages to travel, Kamji says one thing is certain, he will vote neither for the ruling party nor for an elderly candidate, sweeping without naming the two heavyweights from the two main parties.
►Also read : Elections in Nigeria: the immense expectations of the country’s youth
“Our fellow citizens will be able to go out and fulfill their civic duty in peace”
Shortly before the presidential and legislative elections in Nigeria, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, spokesperson for the army, warned this Thursday, February 23: there is no question of letting anyone disturb the ballot. The soldier ensures that the essential is done so that security is ensured and that the electoral operations take place in good order.
He said it at the microphone of Mohamed Sani Abubakar of the editorial staff of RFI in Hausa: “ The warning becomes really necessary, due to threats or negative speeches, from some people who try to threaten the peaceful conduct of this election. So it is our duty to reassure the nation, and also to tell our fellow citizens, that adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure that they can go out and fulfill their civic duty in peace.
Whoever, and I repeat, whoever wants to attack this peace, will find us in their way. “.