The upcoming presidential and
parliamentary elections in Nigeria were scheduled to be held on February 14,
2015, but were postponed for six weeks just one week before the initial date.
The decision to delay an election that was already rife with controversy stirred
up supporters and politicians on both sides of the divide.
Current President Goodluck Jonathan
and the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is facing the stiffest challenge
his party has seen in years in Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress
(APC), and the sides have already begun to clash.
The election is of even greater
importance as Nigeria continues to face insecurity from Boko Haram terrorists
in the northeast, and voters will have to decide which candidates are best
suited to handle the insurgency. As Nigeria and international observers work
diligently to ensure a free and fair vote, here are 12 things to know about the
upcoming election.
1.
The national security adviser called for a delay
Nigeria’s national security adviser,
Sambo Dasuki, made recommendations that the election should be postponed,
albeit briefly, to allow for more time for voter card distribution and further
security measures. Particularly in northern Nigeria, where Boko Haram
insurgents have caused destruction and violence for years, election preparation
has been at a minimum. Several of Nigeria’s smaller opposition parties also
supported a postponement, as well as the ruling PDP party, but the main
opposition party, the APC, was highly opposed.
2.
Election officials decided to delay the election for security reasons
Nigeria’s Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) decided on February 8 to postpone the election in
order to secure more troops and security measures for polling stations – after
Nigeria’s security services informed INEC of a six-week offensive against Boko
Haram insurgents in the north that would make security unavailable for the
February 14th elections. The chairman of the APC, John Odigie-Oyegun, called
the delay “highly provocative” and “a major setback for Nigerian democracy,”
accusing the PDP of influencing INEC in order to garner more time for
campaigning. Similarly, United States Secretary of State John Kerry stated that
the U.S. is “deeply disappointed by the decision to postpone the elections,”
and that “political interference with the INC is unacceptable, and it is
critical that the government not use security concerns as a pretext for impeding
the democratic process.” President Jonathan maintains that the May 29th date
for the transfer of power is “sacrosanct,” and will not be affected by the
delay. The new date for the presidential elections is set for March 28th, and
state elections will be held on April 11th.
3.
This will be the first Nigerian election to use biometric cards
The upcoming election will use
biometric cards for the first time (a new type of ID card to combat widespread
electoral fraud), but less than half of the eligible 70 million voters have
obtained their cards. The minimum voting age is 18, but many eligible voters,
particularly those in Boko Haram-controlled areas and, surprisingly, major
cities such as Lagos, have not received their cards. As it stands, 150,000
polling stations have been set up for the election, over 30,000 more than
previous years, and approximately 360,000 police officers are scheduled to
patrol strategic areas to keep the peace. An estimated 1 million people
displaced the insurgency were given voting rights by an electoral law passed by
Parliament on January 15, but no system was put in place to distribute their
voting cards
4.
The election is expected to be the most tightly contested since 1999
Buhari and the APC’s challenge to
President Jonathan is considered the strongest opposition the People’s
Democratic Party has faced since it assumed power in 1999, following the end of
military rule in Nigeria. This will be the fifth quadrennial election to be
held since civilian rule began.
5.
Presidential candidates must receive at least a quarter of the vote in at least
two-thirds of all states
In order to win, the presidential
candidate must receive the majority of votes cast, as well as at least 25
percent of the votes in a minimum of two-thirds of all 36 states in Nigeria, as
well as the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. If no candidate gains enough
votes in the first round of voting, a run-off election is held within seven
days between the two leading candidates.
6.
President Jonathan’s nomination for the PDP resulted in many PDP Members of
Parliament (MPs) defecting from the party
President Jonathan ran opposed in
the PDP’s primaries in December 2014, and easily won the nomination of the
party to run for reelection to a second and final term. However, this violated
an unwritten rule within the PDP that candidates should alternate between
Muslim northerners and Christian southerners (Jonathan is the latter), and
“dozens” of PDP MPs in the House of Representatives reportedly defected from
the party.
7.
The current APC is an alliance of four former opposition parties
The APC in its current form is the
result of an alliance of four opposition parties: the Action Congress of
Nigeria, the Congress for Progressive Change, the All Nigeria Peoples Party,
and the All Progressives Grand Alliance. Muhammadu Buhari easily won the
party’s primary in December 2014, receiving 57.2% of the vote.
8.
Only 13% of Nigerians have confidence in its country’s elections
In a Gallup poll conducted on
January 13, 2015, a shockingly low 13 percent of Nigerians reported to have
faith in the honesty of the country’s elections. In previous years, elections
have been dominated by violence and allegations of vote rigging. This statistic
is down from 51 percent of Nigerians who had confidence in elections back in
2011.
9.
Former President Obansanjo has backed Muhammadu Buhari
Though Nigeria’s former president,
Olusegun Obansanjo, has said that he will not speak to media outlets about the
elections until after the 14th, he has made his support for Muhammadu Buhari
and the All Progressives Congress (APC) party well known. Obansanjo avoided
President Goodluck Jonathan and his delegation when they paid a visit to his
home in Ota, but went out of his way to receive the APC delegation and make it
known that he supports Buhari’s bid for the presidency.
10.
Clashes between supporters have already resulted in death
Several incidents related to the
election have already resulted in fatalities, including a clash between rival
supporters on February 3, 2015, in Kaduna that left eight dead. Three others
were killed on February 2 when a suicide bomber attempted to strike a Jonathan
campaign rally in Gombe.
11.
There are 14 presidential candidates in the election
Though only the PDP’s President
Jonathan and the APC’s Buhari have reasonable chances of winning, there are 14
candidates in total running for the presidency. All of the candidates have
signed an agreement that binds them to credible and non-violent elections,
issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Official campaigning
was slated to end on February 12, 2015, but will be pushed back with the vote
delay. 739 candidates are also vying for positions in the 109-seat Senate and
1,780 for the 360-seat National Assembly. Now on April 11th, two weeks after
the initial election, Nigerians will take to the polls once more to choose new
governors and state assemblies for 29 of the 36 states.
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