Nigeria’s Buhari checks wife’s ballot to see who she voted for

Nigerian President Mahamadu Buhari has caused an uproar after he peeped the ballot paper of his wife, Aisha, to see who she voted for.

Netizens have decried his action, saying he appeared to have breached Nigeria’s electoral laws.

They have drawn attention to the warning of the chairman of the country’s election watchdog, Professor Mahmood Yakubu , who prior to today’s vote, had warned that voting was “confidential.”

“Dear @INECNigeria This is President @MBuhari who gave a shoot at sight order to soldiers to shoot ballot box snatchers. Yet, here is the same man violating the Electoral Act’s provision for Secret Ballot. Will the same shoot at sight law apply to him?,” a Twitter user wrote.

“This @MBuhari is shameless… he had to violate @inecnigeria voting rules just to ensure his wife voted him…. Even his house is divided… How did we get here bikonu,” another also wrote.

Nigerians head to the polling units across the nation’s 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Abuja, to elect a President today, February 23, 2019.

There are 72 presidential candidates in this election and the front-runners however are: Atiku Abubakar of the PDP, Muhammadu Buhari of the APC, Kingsley Moghalu of the YPP, Fela Durotoye of the ANN and Omoyele Sowore of the AAC.