More than 87 million Nigerians are registered to attend the 176,000 polling stations. The polling stations were supposed to open at 8:30 am local time, but in several locations, including points in Lagos (southwest), Port Harcourt (southeast) or Kano (north), the material was not ready, according to AFP correspondents.
The current president, Muhammadu Buhari, 80, is not in the running because he has reached the two-term limit determined by the Constitution.
His presidency was marked by an explosive increase in violence and poverty in the country, the continent’s biggest oil producer, where 60% of its 216 million inhabitants are under 25 years old.
For the first time since the establishment of democracy in 1999, the election, with three strong candidates, can be defined in the second round.
The campaign was marked by the advance of Peter Obi, 61 years old, former governor of Anambra (southeast). The Labor Party (PL) candidate presented promises of change and threatens the hegemony of the two traditional parties in the former British colony, independent since 1960.
The Congress of All Progressives (APC), Buhari’s party, has as its successful candidate Bola Tinubu, 70, nicknamed “the godfather” for his enormous political influence.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presents the candidacy of former vice-president (1999-2007) Atiku Abubakar, 76 years old, who will try for the sixth time to reach the post of head of state. He claims his business acumen will allow him to “save” Nigeria.
Results will be announced within 14 days of voting. In the event of a second round, voting must take place within a period of 21 days.
The elections are closely followed outside Nigeria, after coups d’état in Mali and Burkina Faso that put democracy in West Africa in check, which is also facing the spread of Islamist armed groups.
– Challenges –
The winner of the election will have to tackle the many problems facing Africa’s largest economy, ranging from inflation and rising poverty, to insecurity and fundamentalist violence, to a separatist movement in the southeast.
“We don’t have fuel, we don’t have food. Everyone suffers,” declared Abdulahi Audu, 31, a resident of Lagos, the country’s economic capital, on the eve of the poll. He said he intended to vote because “the country needs a change”.
The campaign was also marked by attacks against candidates, activists, police stations and polling places.
The widespread violence in the country, which has already registered abstention rates above 60% in other elections, “could affect the vote”, warns the International Crisis Group.
The government has mobilized 400,000 members of the security forces across the country.
The election is also influenced by ethnic and religious factors, in a country with 250 ethnic groups, divided between the north, with a Muslim majority, and the south, which is mainly Christian.
– Without money –
The identification of voters through facial and digital recognition, and the transmission of results electronically, should limit the risk of fraud like the ones that affected previous elections, the Electoral Commission pointed out.
But the use of new technologies, something unprecedented on a national scale, raises fears of failures in the system.
Elections in Nigeria are often marred by episodes of violence, political and ethnic tensions, and logistical problems.
In 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) postponed elections for a week, just hours before polling stations opened.
Another factor with unpredictable political consequences is the lack of bank liquidity, due to the Central Bank’s decision to replace the Nigerian currency, the naira, with a new one, in an attempt to contain corruption and inflation.
The move left many Nigerians without the means to shop or use public transport, which fueled discontent with the Buhari government.