Elections in Nigeria are forms of choosing representatives to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the various states in the fourth republic

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Elections in Nigeria started since 1959 with different

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

. It's a method of choosing leaders where the citizens have right to vote and to be voted for. For 2023, Nigerians are getting ready for Presidential elections with about 93.4 million eligible voters across the federation for the 25 February election.

Background

Nigerians Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

elects on the federal level a

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

(the

President of Nigeria The president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is the head of state and head of government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Niger ...

) and a

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

(the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

). The president is elected by the people. The National Assembly has two

chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

. The

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

has 360 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

. The

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

has 109 members, elected for a four-year term: each of the 36 states are divided into 3 senatorial districts, each of which is represented by one senator; the

Federal Capital Territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

is represented by only one senator. Nigeria has a

multi-party In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in c ...

system, with two or three strong

parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...

and a third party that is electorally successful. However, members of the

People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to: * People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan *People's Democratic Party (Belize) *People's Democratic Party (Bhutan) *People's Democratic Party (Chile) * People's Democratic Party (Dom ...

(PDP) had controlled the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

since

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s were resumed in 1999 until 2015 when

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician and current president of Nigeria since 2015. Buhari is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the country's military head of state from 31 December 1983 to 27 Au ...

won the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

1999 elections

Presidential elections were held in

on 27 February 1999. These were the first elections since the 1993 military coup, and the first elections of the

Fourth Nigerian Republic The Fourth Republic is the current republican government of Nigeria. Since 1999, it has governed the country according to the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Second Republic, which was in place between 1979 and ...

2003 elections

Presidential elections were held in

on 19 April 2003.

2007 elections

The Nigerian general elections of 2007 were held on 14 April and 21 April 2007.Ola Awoniyi
"Nigeria sets date for elections"
, ''Mail & Guardian''. 29 August 2006. Governorship and state assembly elections were held on 14 April, while the presidential and national assembly elections were held a week later on 21 April. late Umaru Yar'Adua won the highly controversial election for the ruling

(PDP) and was sworn in on 29 May. The ruling PDP won 26 of the 32 states, according to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

and

Katsina State Katsina State ''(Hausa: Jihar Katsina) (Fula: Leydi Katsina 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞥁𞤭𞤲𞤢)'' is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Katsina State was created in 1987, when it split from Kaduna State. Today, K ...

, where the results were contested by the local population. Following the

, groups monitoring the election gave it a dismal assessment. Chief

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

observer

Max van den Berg Margrietus Johannes "Max" van den Berg (;Every word in isolation: born 22 March 1946) is a Dutch politician and member of the Dutch Labour Party. From 1979 to 1986 he was the chairman of that party and from 1999 to 2007 he was a Member of the ...

reported that the handling of the polls had "fallen far short" of basic international standards, and that "the process cannot be considered to be credible.""Nigeria election 'worst ever seen'"
SMH News, 24 April 2007. A spokesman for the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

said it was "deeply troubled" by election polls, calling them "flawed", and said it hoped the political parties would resolve any differences over the election through peaceful, constitutional means."Huge win for Nigeria's Yar'Adua"
BBC News, 23 April 2007.

2011 elections

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

was held in Nigeria on 9 April 2011. The election was originally scheduled to be held on 2 April, but was later postponed to 4 April. A presidential election was held in Nigeria on 16 April 2011, postponed from 9 April 2011. The election follows controversy as to whether a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

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 Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who, was the President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010. He was declared the winner of the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 May 20 ...

, who was a Muslim, and

Goodluck Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957)Lawson Heyford, ''The Source'' (Lagos), 11 December 2006. is a Nigerian politician who served as the President of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to fo ...

, a Christian, assuming the interim presidency. Following the election widespread violence took place in the northern parts of the country. Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner on 19 April. The elections was reported in the international media as having run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections, in particular the widely disputed 2007 election. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

said the election was "successful" and a "substantial improvement" over 2007, although it added that vote rigging and fraud also took place.

2015 elections

The 2015 general elections was originally scheduled to hold 14 February, but was later postponed to 28 March and 11 April 2015 . General Muhammadu Buhari of the

All Progressives Congress The All Progressives Congress (APC) is one of the two major contemporary political parties in Nigeria, along with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Founded on 6 February 2013 from a merger of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, the ...

emerged as the winner of the Presidential elections and was sworn in on 29 May 2015. The 2015 Election was a success because there were tensions everywhere concerning the difficult politics and the security environment of the country at that time. However, It was the first time in the history of Nigeria that an incumbent president lost an election. Goodluck Ebele Johnathan of the

lost his seat to

of the

2019 elections

Presidential and National Assembly Elections were scheduled for 16 February 2019, while State and Local government elections were scheduled for 2 March 2019. Elections were postponed by one week after INEC cited logistic challenges. The rescheduled dates are 23 February and 9 March 2019. President Muhammadu Buhari was re-elected for another four-year term. The primary contender was former vice president,

Atiku Abubakar Atiku is a given name and surname. It may refer to: Given name *Atiku Abubakar (born 1946), Nigerian politician and businessman, Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 *Atikur Rahman Mallik, Bangladeshi film editor Middle name *Abubakar Atiku ...

of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Kingsley Moghalu of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Yele Sowore of the African Action Congress (AAC) and

Fela Durotoye Adetokunbo Olufela Durotoye (born in Ibadan, Oyo State on 12 May 1971) is a business consultant, leadership expert, and motivational speaker. Fela is the president of the GEMSTONE Nation Builders Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organiz ...

of the Alliance for a New Nigeria (ANN) were other popular candidates who are all relatively young. Late in 2018, these three parties alongside some others attempted to form a coalition. However, the candidates pulled out of the coalition and decided to continue running on their respective platforms. There are 73 candidates contesting in the presidential election. The 2019 governorship and state house of assembly election was earlier scheduled for 2 March 2019 was rescheduled for Saturday 9, March 2019. With two major political parties;

(APC) and People's Democratic Party fielding candidates in the elections across various states except Rivers where a court order prohibits The All Progressives Congress from fielding candidates as a result of internal crisis with the state chapter of the party. In Nigeria, the 2019 General Election came up with its own unique issues, challenges and successes that have not been witnessed in the previous five elections in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.

2023 elections

General elections were held in

on 25 February 2023 to elect the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and members of the

and

References

External links

African Elections DatabaseAdam Carr's Election Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elections In Nigeria