Organizational and technical problems caused major delays in the presidential and parliamentary elections in Nigeria. Almost 90 million eligible voters were called upon to nominate the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who was barred from standing following two terms in office. The outcome of the presidential election was completely open. For the first time there were three favorites for the highest office in Africa’s most populous country.
In addition, both chambers of Parliament were re-elected. Hours following the official closing time of the polling stations, people were still queuing in many places on Saturday evening to cast their votes. Because of the delays, while the counts were already beginning, the National Electoral Commission ordered the voting in the southern state of Bayelsa to continue on Sunday.
However, in cities such as Lagos, Anambra and Kano, many polling stations remained open in the evening when they should have been closed long ago. The main reasons were the late delivery of material and technical breakdowns. In the state of Bayelsa, more than 140 polling stations should reopen on Sunday.
Many voters were upset regarding the glitches. “This is not normal,” said student Blessing Mbanefo, who was waiting in front of a polling station in the southeastern city of Akwa. “I’ll wait all night, I came to vote and I’ll do it too,” announced the 21-year-old. “I’m ready to sleep here.”
Outside a polling station in the northwestern city of Kano, 47-year-old Kabiru Sani also expressed his determination to wait as long as necessary to cast his ballot. “We will exercise our right to vote no matter how long it takes,” he said.
The election was the first nationwide use of biometric technologies to identify voters to prevent voter fraud. The results were also transmitted electronically. However, the electoral commission left open when it will publish the first results.
With the exception of a few violent incidents, the vote was largely peaceful. Around 400,000 security forces were deployed across the country to secure the election. In previous years, elections in Nigeria had often been accompanied by violence, logistical problems and allegations of electoral fraud.
A total of 17 men and one woman applied to succeed Buhari. For the first time since the end of military rule in 1999, the dominance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party and the largest opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was challenged by a third likely candidate: 61-year-old Labor Party leader Peter Obi. The party challenged ex-Lagos governor Bola Tinubu of the APC and former vice-president Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
An exciting race was expected, which might also end with a runoff. To be president, a candidate must not only receive the most votes, but also at least 25 percent of the votes in two-thirds of the 36 states. If no candidate meets these conditions, a runoff election must be held three weeks later.
Among the registered voters this year were almost ten million new voters who might make all the difference.
The elections took place once morest the background of Nigeria’s massive economic and security problems. The 216 million inhabitants of the West African country are suffering from cash and fuel shortages, inflation of over 20 percent and years of violence by the jihadist militia Boko Haram.