On Saturday Africa’s most populous nation — Nigeria — picks a President. The overwhelming majority of Nigerians are unhappy with the present state of the country under President Muhammadu Buhari. A new poll by the Africa Polling Institute (API) has found that 78 per cent said they were either 'sad' or 'extremely' sad about the current state of Nigeria. When Muhammadu Buhari came to power in Nigeria in 2015, he promised, among other things, to eliminate Boko Haram. And while the northeast is better than it was in 2015 — at the height of the terrorist group’s power — it is far from safe. "With the unemployment rate projected by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) to hit a staggering 37 percent in 2023, it is hardly surprising that seven out of ten Nigerians would leave the country if the opportunity were to arise." adds Ebenezer Obadere for CFR. “The heightened interest in this weekend’s election, illustrated by several large rallies across the country, is in great part an outcome of a desire to see these problems tackled by an administration with a fresh set of ideas."
There are three candidates to watch on Saturday. At 76 years of age, Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party is the first candidate to watch and a serial runner-for-office (its his sixth Presidential election). The second is the wealthy kingmaker Bola Ahmed Tinubu, age 70, of the incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC), who is a former governor of Nigeria’s oil rich Lagos State. The third is Peter Obi of the Labour Party of Nigeria (LP), who, at age 61 is electrifying the young voters — and 104 year old Mama Africa!
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