WHY IS AMERICA CONGRATULATING THE WINNER OF THIS DISASTROUS ELECTION?
Nigeria’s Hollow Democracy Why is America congratulating the winner of this disastrous election? By Chimamanda Adichie In black and white, President-elect Bola Tinubu. In red, the Labour candidate Peter Obi. (Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Adekunle Ajayi / Getty; Temilade Adelaja / Reuters.) D ear president biden, Something remarkable happened on the morning of February 25, the day of the Nigerian presidential election. Many Nigerians went out to vote holding in their hearts a new sense of trust. Cautious trust, but still trust. Since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigerians have had little confidence in elections. To vote in a presidential election was to brace yourself for the inevitable aftermath: fraud. Elections would be rigged because elections were always rigged; the question was how badly. Sometimes voting felt like an inconsequential gesture as predetermined “winners” were announced. A law passed last year, the 2022 Electoral Act, changed everything. It gave leg