The day after the presidential election in Africa’s most populous state Nigeria, both late votes and counts continued. The electoral authority INEC announced the first bundled results from the 36 states for the evening on Sunday afternoon. At the same time, elections continued on Sunday in several states after polling stations were able to open late or not at all on the actual election day on Saturday due to the security situation and logistical problems. Voters queued late into the night.
More than 87 million of the approximately 220 million inhabitants were registered to vote and had picked up their authorization cards – a record. In addition to the president of Africa’s largest economy, more than 400 seats in two chambers of parliament will also be elected. The voting was accompanied by isolated attacks and raids on polling stations in different parts of the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari (80) is stepping down after two terms in office. The election is also seen as a reckoning with his ruling APC, as both the security and economic situation have deteriorated during Buhari’s eight-year tenure. For the first time since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, a third party has good chances alongside the candidates from the two dominant parties. The most promising of the 18 candidates for the post are Bola Tinubu (70) from the ruling APC and Atiku Abubakar (76) from the opposition PDP party. Peter Obi (61) from the small Labor party is particularly popular in cities and among young people.
