Millions headed to the polls on Saturday to vote in Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary election, which could have ripple effects across the country and the African continent.
Nigerians will look to change their nation's fortunes with a new government after the current leader, President Muhammadu Buhari, announced he would step down after serving two terms. Despite having the largest economy in Africa, per Statista, Nigeria has been fraught with financial hardships and rising levels of violence under Buhari's tenure.
Nigeria "is struggling with Islamist insurgencies in the northeast, an epidemic of kidnappings for ransom, conflict between herders and farmers, shortages of cash, fuel, and power, as well as deep-rooted corruption and poverty," per Reuters. An additional poll cited by The New York Times found that 89 percent of Nigerians felt their country was going in the wrong direction.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The two main candidates to succeed Buhari are Bola Tinubu from Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress, and Atiku Abubakar from the opposition People's Democratic Party. However, this year's election has another major contender, Peter Obi, a third-party candidate from the Labor Party.
The Times noted that Obi was leading in numerous polls heading into the election. His victory would be considered a major upset, NPR added. However, there are also a large number of undeclared voters, which could swing the election back toward one of the major party candidates.
Election day got off to a rocky start. While polls were scheduled to open across the country at 8:30 a.m. local time, many had delayed starts. Nigerian newspaper The Punch reported this was due to "insecurity in some states [that] led to delays as well as logistics issues."
-
Gaza ceasefire teeters as Netanyahu orders strikesSpeed Read Israel accused Hamas of firing on Israeli troops
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Beth Macy’s 6 favorite books about living in a divided nationFeature The journalist recommends works by Nicholas Buccola, Matthew Desmond, and more
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICE
Speed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
-
Trump nominee in limbo after racist texts leakSpeed Read Paul Ingrassia lost Republican support following the exposure of past racist text messages
