Nigerian veteran journalist and Publisher of TheCable, Simon Kolawole, has said that it has become common for some Nigerians to conclude that an election was rigged whenever their preferred candidate fails to win.

Kolawole made the observation in his latest column which was shared on the official X handle of TheCable on Saturday.

He noted that while rigging is a fact and remains undeniable in Nigerian elections, it is not always the reason candidates lose elections.

To buttress his point, he cited the example of former President Muhammadu Buhari who until his death believed he won the 2003, 2007 and 2011 presidential elections but was rigged out of victory.

According to him, in 2011 Buhari even alleged that a software installed in the computers of the Independent National Electoral Commission reduced his votes by 40 percent because he was convinced that his huge popularity in the core north was enough to make him president.

Kolawole explained that no candidate has ever won presidential election in Nigeria by being popular in only one section of the country, stressing that what is required is broad support from other regions, a reality Buhari only came to realize when he won in 2015.

He observed that Nigeria comprises 36 states, the Federal Capital Territory, six geopolitical zones and 774 local government areas, with over 20 million people voting in presidential elections for different reasons including ethnic and religious sentiments, party loyalty, political affinity and stomach infrastructure.

He added that voting behaviour differs among voters in rural areas, semi urban towns and big cities, warning that the voices of a few thousand people on social media should not be mistaken for the choice of millions, describing such as echo chambers.