The die is cast. Nigerians have entered into the first phase of the graduated excursion to the crucial 2019 election. With the embargo lifted, yesterday, November 18, 2018, today marks the kickoff of open campaigns for the presidential and National Assembly election scheduled for February 16, 2019. Going by the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) timetable, the gubernatorial and State Assembly candidates would join the campaign trail in two weeks time.
Pending the final lid on the substitution window on January 17, 2019, more than 70 presidential candidates from the 98 existing political parties have been recognized by INEC to participate in the forthcoming poll. Effectively the front-runners in the presidential election, as far as Nigerians are concerned, are the All Progressives Congress (APC) that parades the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, as its candidate and a former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, who is contesting on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its standard bearer.
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