L-R: Atiku and Buhari
Nigerians went to the polls for the country’s general election to decide who takes the baton for the next four years despite a last-minute postponement of the vote a week ago.
The main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, is the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, 72, both from the northern part of the country.
Whoever wins 2019 presidential election will have to address power shortages, corruption, security threats, a sluggish economy and many more issues.
Voting was slated to begin at 8am but majority began at 9am or more and polls are due to close at 2pm but extends for an hour.
President Buhari and wife, Aisha cast their ballot in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina. Asked if he would congratulate his rival if he lost, he said: “I will congratulate myself.”
While Presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku Abubakar and wife, Titi cast their ballot in his polling unit of Ajiya in Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa state said he’s impressed with the turnout of voters.
After the initial vote was rescheduled in a dramatic press conference in the early hours of Saturday 16 February, just five hours before polls were due to have opened, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that everything is in place for the poll to take place this time round .
The candidate with the most votes is declared the winner in the first round, as long as that person gains at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states.
There are 73 registered candidates in the presidential election, but campaigning has been dominated by the two political giants and the established party machines behind them.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has promised to take the country to the “next level”, arguing that in his first four-year term Mr. Buhari has done a lot of “foundational work” that may not be immediately obvious.
Mr. Abubakar and his People’s Democratic Party have pledged “to get Nigeria working again”, saying that the president has wasted the last four years.
For the records, 73 million Nigerians have voter’s cards, 51% of the electorate are under the age of 35, 73 registered presidential candidates and 120,000 polling stations across Nigeria.
Up until 1999 Nigeria was governed by either short-lived civilian administrations or military rulers. But this year marks 20 years since the return of democracy.
Mr. Buhari was elected in 2015 – the first time an opposition candidate had defeated an incumbent to become president.
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