|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nigeria |
This article is part of the series: |
|
|
|
Nigeria Portal · Politics Portal |
A presidential election was held in Nigeria on 16 April 2011, postponed from 9 April 2011.[1][2] The election follows controversy as to whether a Muslim or Christian should be allowed to become president given the tradition of rotating the top office between the religions and following the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, who was a Muslim, and Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, assuming the interim presidency.
On election day, many "irregularities", such as underage voting, and snatching of ballot boxes, were reported to have taken place.[3] Opposition candidate Buhari stated that his supporters in the south were not allowed to vote.[4] The United States said the elections were "successful" and a "substantial improvement" over the 2007 elections, although stating that rigging and fraud also took place.[5] Following the election widespread violence took place in the north of the country.[6] Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner on 19 April.[7]
Contents |
A gentlemen's agreement meant that power rotates between Muslim north and Christian south every two terms, which means this election is scheduled to be represented by a Muslim.[8] After the death of President Umar Yar'Adua, Northern Muslim, his Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a Southern Christian, took over as acting president. The suggestion that Jonathan was considering running for the presidency in his own right was controversial as Yar'Adua had only served one of the two possible terms as president after Southerner Olusegun Obasanjo.[9]
Due to the zoning system a Northern Muslim candidate, Ibrahim Babangida, a former general and military ruler, and Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, as expected, ran for the presidency.
After initial doubts,[8] the interim president Goodluck Jonathan declared his intention to run for the presidency on 18 September, 2010.[10] Muhammadu Buhari is seen by some as a principle opposition to Jonathan besides Nuhu Ribadu.[11]
There are sixty-three registered political parties in Nigeria, of which twenty-one fielded candidates:[12][13]
| Political parties | Presidential candidates | Running mates |
|---|---|---|
| ACN | Nuhu Ribadu[14] | Fola Adeola[13] |
| ADC | Peter Nwangwu[13] | Mani Ibrahim Ahmad[13] |
| ANPP | Ibrahim Shekarau[15] | John Odigie Oyegun[13] |
| AFP | Yahaya Ndu[13] | |
| BNPP | Iheanyichukwu Nnaji[13] | Kadijat Abubakar[13] |
| CPC | Muhammadu Buhari[16] | Tunde Bakare[13] |
| FDP | Chris Okotie[13] | |
| HDP | Ambrose Awuru[13] | Ibrahim Abdullahi[13] |
| LDP | Chris Nwaokobia[13] | |
| NCP | Dele Momodu[13] | Yunusa Tanko[13] |
| NMDP | Akpona Solomon[13] | - |
| NTP | John Dara[13] | - |
| MPPP | Rasheed Shitta-Bey[13] | - |
| PDC | Mahmud Waziri[13] | Clement Eze[13] |
| PDP | Goodluck Jonathan[17] | Namadi Sambo[13] |
| PMP | Nwadike Chikezie[13] | - |
| SDMP | Patrick Utomi[13] | Lawal Funtua[13] |
| UNPD | Ebiti Ndok[13] | Galadima Samari[13] |
| Ibrahim Babangida[18] |
Following a bombing in Abuja during Nigeria's 50th anniversary celebrations and the consequent arrest and interrogation of the Director General of Babangida campaign, Raymond Dokpesi, there were calls for him to quit the race. In addition, there were others who linked his affiliated to the blasts. He responded in saying it would be "idiotic to link" him with attack. Even before the blasts, however, some of his former loyalists, popularly called "IBB Boys," apparently asked him to quit the presidential race so as not to avoid being rubbished by a non-General.[19]
In September 2010, the election commission requested a postponement of the polls citing the need for more time to overhaul the national electoral register. Critics were upset over the proposal.[20] The election was postponed from January to April due to the release of a new electronic voter registration software.[2]
In December 2010, bombs went off in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State during a gubernatorial campaign rally. There were also bombings and shootings in the north blamed on Boko Haram. Politicians and police said that the campaign of violence aimed to disrupt the election.[21]
The elections was reported in the international media as having run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections.[17]
| Candidates | Parties | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goodluck Jonathan | People's Democratic Party (PDP) | 22,495,187 | 58.89 |
| Muhammadu Buhari | Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) | 12,214,853 | 31.98 |
| Nuhu Ribadu | Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) | 2,079,151 | 5.41 |
| Ibrahim Shekarau | All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) | 917,012 | 2.40 |
| Mahmud Waziri | People for Democratic Change (PDC) | 82,243 | 0.21 |
| Nwadike Chikezie | Peoples Mandate Party (PMP) | 56,248 | 0.15 |
| Lawson Igboanugo Aroh | Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) | 54,203 | 0.14 |
| Peter Nwangwu | African Democratic Congress (ADC) | 51,682 | 0.14 |
| Iheanyichukwu Nnaji | Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP) | 47,272 | 0.12 |
| Chris Okotie | Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH) | 34,331 | 0.09 |
| Dele Momodu | National Conscience Party (NCP) | 26,376 | 0.07 |
| Akpona Solomon | National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP) | 25,938 | 0.07 |
| Lawrence Makinde Adedoyin | African Political System (APS) | 23,740 | 0.06 |
| Ebiti Ndok | United National Party for Development (UNPD) | 21,203 | 0.06 |
| John Dara | National Transformation Party (NTP) | 19,744 | 0.05 |
| Rasheed Shitta-Bey | Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP) | 16,492 | 0.04 |
| Yahaya Ndu | African Renaissance Party (ARP) | 12,264 | 0.03 |
| Ambrose Awuru | Hope Democratic Party (HDP) | 12,023 | 0.03 |
| Patrick Utomi | Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP) | 11,544 | 0.03 |
| Chris Nwaokobia | Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN) | 8,472 | 0.02 |
| Invalid votes | 1,259,506 | 3.19 | |
| Valid votes (turnout 53.7%) | 39,469,484 | 96.81 | |
| Source: INEC | |||
|
|||||||||||||||||