Hunters armed with bows and arrows in Dasso, Nigeria on February 18, 2019, just a few days ahead of the country's general election. AFP
Hunters armed with bows and arrows in Dasso, Nigeria on February 18, 2019, just a few days ahead of the country's general election. AFP
Hunters armed with bows and arrows in Dasso, Nigeria on February 18, 2019, just a few days ahead of the country's general election. AFP
Hunters armed with bows and arrows in Dasso, Nigeria on February 18, 2019, just a few days ahead of the country's general election. AFP

Nigeria elections observers warn of fraud ahead of Saturday's vote


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With the sudden, last-minute postponement of Nigeria’s election to Saturday, the opportunities for electoral skulduggery have only grown.

Africa’s largest economy has a long history of poll violence, as it swung between democratic and military rule after independence from Britain in 1960. But this election, between the frail incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling APC party, and the PDP’s billionaire former vice president Atiku Abubakar, could represent the second democratic transition of power in the country’s history. And for the first time, a generation of young Nigerians who have known only democracy will cast their votes.

Since both candidates are Muslims from the north, few expect the religious and communal violence that has killed hundreds in previous elections. But with the election too close to call, and both parties pursuing victory at all costs, reports of shady election tactics abound.

Nigerian political candidates have long used food, clothing and even cash handouts to win votes, but the problem has grown in recent years.

“Vote buying became more prominent last year during the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections,” said Leye Komolafe, an election observer in south-western Oyo state. “Having tested it there, politicians are now aware that it works.”

He added: “Unlike in previous elections, political parties are not spending as much as they did during campaigning. This could suggest they are waiting to buy votes.”

Unconfirmed rumours abound that voter cards are being purchased by parties in the Muslim majority north – the primary battleground in this election, given the two candidates’ backgrounds – for as much as 30,000 naira ($83).

For the 87 million Nigerians – or half the population – living on less than $1.90 a day, that would constitute a small fortune.

Mr Komolafe said he expected to observe voter fraud on election day, including people using other voters' identification.

Goods including hats, rice and chilli powder bearing the faces of senate candidates and party logos have been distributed to voters nationwide.

Vote buying will likely be most evident on election day. "In the end, the vote will come down to which candidate is able to mobilise their supporters on the day," Ed Hobey-Hamsher, an analyst at risk consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft, told The National.

A sophisticated social media campaign is being waged to swing young voters. Late last year, Attahiru Jega, the former chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), warned of the rising threat of fake news and called for stiffer laws against disinformation on social media.

Scores of young men and women have reportedly been employed to create fake Twitter accounts promoting party agendas. In the post-election period, they could be used to amplify the unverified election results that are typically disseminated by political parties to declare victory.

Other tactics being employed are decidedly more low-tech. A fortnight ago, an INEC office in central Plateau state was torched, destroying nearly 6,000 voter cards.

The election is fought on two key issues: security and the economy.

Nigeria might be the continent’s largest economy, biggest oil producer and most populous nation, but its growth has been sluggish, due to corruption, insecurity and Mr Buhari’s ill-judged foreign exchange policies.

Inequality is rife: as the wealthy swan around waterside Lagos, most Nigerians are struggling to get by. Unemployment is high, while more people live in extreme poverty in Nigeria than anywhere else on earth.

On the security front, the country is facing a series of violent insurgencies. Extremist Islamist group Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria’s troubled north has killed as many as 20,000 people since 2009 and sent thousands fleeing to neighbouring Cameroon.

Meanwhile an affiliate group, Islamic State West Africa province, has grown in both stature and brutality, briefly seizing the small town of Baga in late December.

An equally violent – albeit less notorious – episode is ongoing in Nigeria’s agricultural middle belt, where resource scarcity has fuelled clashes between mostly Christian farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen. It is a sensitive issue for Mr Buhari, himself a Fulani Muslim, who has been accused of not doing enough to stop the violence, which killed some 1,300 people in the first half of 2018, six times more than Boko Haram.

In the south, oil militants carry out attacks, while a secessionist movement in the Niger Delta rumbles on. Across the country, bandits and kidnappers operate with abandon.

Although there are 73 presidential candidates, bringing security and prosperity to Nigeria will fall to either the ailing Mr Buhari, a former military ruler during the 1980s who has spent months of his first term on medical leave in London, or the comparatively spritely Mr Abubakar, 72, who faces accusations of corruption and has contested three previous elections.

In December, Mr Buhari was forced to publicly deny rumours he had died and been replaced by a Sudanese imposter.

Since both men are political insiders, they have struggled to campaign on a platform of change. And with Mr Abubakar emerging as a slight favourite, international observers are concerned that whoever loses will challenge the result in court – or worse, incite violence among their supporters.

Three weeks prior to the election, Mr Buhari suspended the country’s chief justice – who would have ruled on an election challenge – pending corruption charges.

“Mr Buhari has never been a full-convert to democratic norms, preferring the autocratic leadership style that he enjoyed as military head of state,” said Mr Hobey-Hamsher. “There is a high risk he will not accept defeat if it comes.”

US PGA Championship in numbers

Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.

To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.

Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.

4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.

In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.

For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.

Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.

Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.

Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.

10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.

11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.

12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.

13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.

14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.

15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.

16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.

17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.

18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).

Blonde
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Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle

Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)

Cinco in numbers

Dh3.7 million

The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown

46

The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.

1,000

The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]

50

How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday

3,000

The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

1.1 million

The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hot%20Seat
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Where to buy art books in the UAE

There are a number of speciality art bookshops in the UAE.

In Dubai, The Lighthouse at Dubai Design District has a wonderfully curated selection of art and design books. Alserkal Avenue runs a pop-up shop at their A4 space, and host the art-book fair Fully Booked during Art Week in March. The Third Line, also in Alserkal Avenue, has a strong book-publishing arm and sells copies at its gallery. Kinokuniya, at Dubai Mall, has some good offerings within its broad selection, and you never know what you will find at the House of Prose in Jumeirah. Finally, all of Gulf Photo Plus’s photo books are available for sale at their show. 

In Abu Dhabi, Louvre Abu Dhabi has a beautiful selection of catalogues and art books, and Magrudy’s – across the Emirates, but particularly at their NYU Abu Dhabi site – has a great selection in art, fiction and cultural theory.

In Sharjah, the Sharjah Art Museum sells catalogues and art books at its museum shop, and the Sharjah Art Foundation has a bookshop that offers reads on art, theory and cultural history.

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AS%20WE%20EXIST
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How to help

Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200

Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra

 

DUBAI WORLD CUP CARNIVAL CARD

6.30pm Handicap US$135,000 (Turf) 2,410m

7.05pm UAE 1000 Guineas Listed $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

7.40pm Dubai Dash Listed $175,000 (T) 1,000m

8.15pm Al Bastakiya Trial Conditions $100,000 (D) 1.900m

8.50pm Al Fahidi Fort Group Two $250,000 (T) 1,400m

9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (D) 2,000m

 

The National selections

6.30pm: Gifts Of Gold

7.05pm Final Song

7.40pm Equilateral

8.15pm Dark Of Night

8.50pm Mythical Magic

9.25pm Franz Kafka

Company profile

Name: Dukkantek 

Started: January 2021 

Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani 

Based: UAE 

Number of employees: 140 

Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service) 

Investment: $5.2 million 

Funding stage: Seed round 

Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office  

Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut

Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”

Silent Hill f

Publisher: Konami

Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Rating: 4.5/5

Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.

Based: Riyadh

Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany

Founded: September, 2020

Number of employees: 70

Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions

Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds  

Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices

Trump v Khan

2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US

2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks

2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit

2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”

2022:  Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency

July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”

Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.

Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”

Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?

The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.

A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.

The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.

Sunday's fixtures
  • Bournemouth v Southampton, 5.30pm
  • Manchester City v West Ham United, 8pm
Indika
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The specs: 2018 GMC Terrain

Price, base / as tested: Dh94,600 / Dh159,700

Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder

Power: 252hp @ 5,500rpm

Torque: 353Nm @ 2,500rpm

Transmission: Nine-speed automatic

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.4L  / 100km

TALE OF THE TAPE

Floyd Mayweather

  • Height 
  • Weight
  • Reach
  • Record

Conor McGregor

  • Height 
  • Weight
  • Reach
  • Record
UAE Rugby finals day

Games being played at The Sevens, Dubai

2pm, UAE Conference final

Dubai Tigers v Al Ain Amblers

4pm, UAE Premiership final

Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons

1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List
James Mustich, Workman

Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm

Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm

Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
La Mer lowdown

La Mer beach is open from 10am until midnight, daily, and is located in Jumeirah 1, well after Kite Beach. Some restaurants, like Cupagahwa, are open from 8am for breakfast; most others start at noon. At the time of writing, we noticed that signs for Vicolo, an Italian eatery, and Kaftan, a Turkish restaurant, indicated that these two restaurants will be open soon, most likely this month. Parking is available, as well as a Dh100 all-day valet option or a Dh50 valet service if you’re just stopping by for a few hours.
 

WWE Super ShowDown results

Seth Rollins beat Baron Corbin to retain his WWE Universal title

Finn Balor defeated Andrade to stay WWE Intercontinental Championship

Shane McMahon defeated Roman Reigns

Lars Sullivan won by disqualification against Lucha House Party

Randy Orton beats Triple H

Braun Strowman beats Bobby Lashley

Kofi Kingston wins against Dolph Zigggler to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Mansoor Al Shehail won the 50-man Battle Royal

The Undertaker beat Goldberg

 

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Cry Macho

Director: Clint Eastwood

Stars: Clint Eastwood, Dwight Yoakam

Rating:**

Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.