Millions of Nigerians voted over the weekend for a new president to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, whose eight-year rule of Africa’s most populous nation saw the economy fall into a fiscal crisis and insecurity become increasingly rife. The election was beset by delays, reports of violence in some areas and glitches with a new electronic results transmission system.
The three main candidates — Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party and outsider Peter Obi of the Labour Party — all expressed optimism about their performance.
Tinubu, the ex-governor of Lagos state, won with 35% of the vote, compared to 28% for ex-vice president Abubakar and 24% for ex-governor of Anambra state Obi. Each also won a dozen states, but Tinubu did better in more regions. His share of the vote is lower than any president-elect since democracy returned in 1999 — a reflection of the disillusionment of much of the Nigerian electorate after eight years under Tinubu’s ally Buhari.
