Waning Support in Nigeria's North Poses Vote Risk for Buhari
- Ruling party’s defections spreading to prominent northerners
- Territory home to 40% of voters has been bedrock for president
Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images
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Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid is facing a growing challenge as members of his party defect to the opposition and support diminishes in a key region that’s stood by him politically for 15 years: the north.
Home to about 40 percent of the West African nation’s voters, Nigeria’s North East and North West regions have long been Buhari’s bedrock -- he carried them in three failed bids for the presidency, before gaining enough supporters elsewhere in 2015 to win. Now, defections from the ruling All Progressives Congress have spread to prominent northerners, casting doubt on whether he can secure the 13 states’ backing in February’s ballot.