All Eyes on Nigeria as Nation Heads to Polls

Nigerians go to the polls on February 25, 2023 to elect a new president, vice-president, 109 members of the Senate and 360 members of the Federal House of Representatives. Eighteen political parties have presented candidates for the various offices and over 87.2 million adult Nigerians are registered to vote.

The 2023 general election in Nigeria is the seventh since the current wave of liberal democracy formally started in 1999. In the last 24 years, Nigeria's democracy has witnessed some growth. But there have been challenges too. These challenges often affect the way voters react at the polls. Ethnicity, religion, money, history, and insecurity have been identified as some of the forces that will be at play as voters elect the next set of leaders, writes Adejuwon Soyinka for The Conversation

Over the past few weeks, violent protests in parts of the country over the scarcity of bank notes have overshadowed political campaign rallies. With a high unemployment rate, worsening poverty level, escalating insecurity, and rising debt burden fuelling dismay in Nigeria, citizens want a credible and competent leader that can tackle these problems, especially insecurity, head-on.

The leading candidates for the presidential elections are Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso, of the New Nigerian Peoples Party. According to analysts, the election race will be close with third-party candidate Peter Obi challenging the traditional dominance of the ruling APC and main opposition PDP.

 

 

InFocus

The leading candidates for the presidential elections are Peter Obi of the Labour Party Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party.

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