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Mass Defections Upend Nigeria as Buhari Seeks Re-Election
By and
Updated on
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Dozens of lawmakers quit President Buhari’s party this week
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Leader plans to seek second term in February election
After a series of missteps on economic and security issues, one of the things Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari could pin his re-election hopes on was a feeble opposition. Not anymore.
More than fifty lawmakers and a state governor quit Buhari’s ruling All Progressives Congress this week, with the vast majority switching allegiances to the People’s Democratic Party. While both parties have struggled with internal divisions, the mass defections are breathing new life into the PDP, which ruled Africa’s most-populous nation from the end of military rule in 1999 until former President Goodluck Jonathan was ousted by Buhari in the 2015 election.
