: Whats at Stake in the Nigerian Presidential Elections #WorldNEWS Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country, largest economy, and top oil producer—will hold a presidential election on

Whats at Stake in the Nigerian Presidential Elections #WorldNEWS
Nigeria—Africa’s most populous country, largest economy, and top oil producer—will hold a presidential election on Saturday February 25. Incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari, now finishing his second four-year term, is ineligible to run for re-election.
Even if he could run, he probably wouldn’t win. Africa’s largest economy, still recovering from a COVID-19 shock that triggered the country’s second recession in just five years, continues to struggle. Inflation reached 21. 5% at the end of 2022. The unemployment rate stands at 33 percent for all adults and 42. 5% for young adults.
Some 40 percent of the country’s 221 million people live below the poverty line, according to The World Bank last March, and “many Nigerians—especially in the country’s north—also lack education and access to basic infrastructure, such as electricity, safe drinking water, and improved sanitation. ” The value of the naira, Nigeria’s currency, plunged last year as oil theft, a chronic problem in Nigeria’s south, took a bite out of the country’s oil exports. A plan to replace old banknotes with new ones has gone completely off the rails this week, leading to cash shortages, protests, vandalism of bank buildings, and fights at ATMs. Acute fuel shortages for consumers have also set voters’ teeth on edge. Corruption remains endemic.

The now 13-year insurgency of terrorist group Boko Haram continues to wreak havoc in the country’s northeast. There are secessionists in the southeast, led by the Indigenous People of Biafra, who are accused of most of the dozens of attacks aimed at election workers and facilities over the past four years. Well-armed criminal gangs commit crimes in multiple regions.
For all these reasons, the stakes in this election are high. According to the country’s constitution, the candidate with the most votes who also earns at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of Nigerias 36 states will be declared the winner. If no candidate meets that threshold, the top two candidates then face off in a second round of voting within three weeks.
The candidates
There isn’t much reliable independent polling in Nigeria, but of the 18 candidates in this election, just three have a real chance to win.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the former Lagos governor, represents the governing All Progressives Congress (APC). Tinubu is widely considered the favorite to win, mainly because he’s an experienced politician with 21 ruling party governors who can make his case locally and enough campaign cash to outspend his rivals on advertising.
But he also faces big challenges.