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WHY IS AMERICA CONGRATULATING THE WINNER OF THIS DISASTROUS ELECTION?

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  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