Young people are going to vote in Nigeria’s first elections in decades amid uncertainty and hardship.
Africa’s largest economy is holding its seventh election.
Some 93.5 million Nigerians will vote for 18 candidates to replace President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari has served two terms, so the next president will be elected by the people. The leader of the main opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party is former Lagos state governor Bola Tinubu, 70, who is also the leader of the All Progressives Congress. Along with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, a relative stranger, Tinubu is the leader of the APC opposition.
The decentralized and groundbreaking nature of the campaign has attracted young and professional voters who are dissatisfied with both major parties. Some polls now have him leading the race.
At a time when coups and violent extremism have plagued West Africa, Hoffman added that the region “needs Nigeria to hold credible elections.”
Important events this month
This week, international observers from different countries will come, including former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnny Carson and former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
In September, First Lady Aisha Muhammadu Buhari apologized for the security and economic problems Nigerians have faced since her husband’s election in 2015. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, Connie Hoffman noted ” missed opportunities” and “self-created crises” under the Buhari regime.
In 2019, the government closed the movement of goods across Nigeria’s borders with neighboring Benin, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger to stop the smuggling of rice and other agricultural products.
The administration’s exchange rate system has been criticized. Try to protect the naira by making it more valuable. People argue that interventions like this increase volatility because prices change more frequently.
The oil sector accounts for more than 81% of the national budget revenue, making Abuja very susceptible to oil price fluctuations and low production due to widespread crude oil theft.
