Politics
#NigeriaDecides2023: 18 Contestants With Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso As Front-Runners Battles For Presidency
Today, citizens of Nigeria will participate in the first phase of the 2023 general election by casting their votes to elect a new president as well as 468 federal lawmakers.
The second phase of the election, which will feature the governorship and state assembly poll, is scheduled to be held in two weeks’ time.
This year’s general election marks the seventh since the restoration of democracy in Nigeria. The country previously held general elections in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019.
Today’s election in Nigeria will see the participation of 18 registered parties, which is the highest number in the country’s contemporary political history. Each of these parties is fielding candidates for the various positions being contested.
They are Christopher Imumolen (Accord), Hamza Al-Mustapha (AA), Omoyele Sowore (AAC), Dumebi Kachikwu (ADC), Yabani Sani (ADP), Bola Tinubu (APC), Peter Umeadi (APGA), Princess Ojei (APM), and Charles Nnadi (APP).
Others are Sunday Adenuga (BP), Peter Obi (LP), Rabi’u Kwankwaso (NNPP), Felix Osakwe (NRM), Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Kola Abiola (PRP), Adebayo Adewole (SDP), Ado Ibrahim Abdulmalik (YPP) and Dan Nwanyanwu (ZLP).
Despite the large number of presidential candidates, political analysts and observers of Nigeria’s democratic process have categorized the election as a four-horse race. The leading candidates in this race are Mr. Tinubu, Mr. Atiku, Mr. Obi, and Mr. Kwankwaso. These four candidates have been identified as the frontrunners in the presidential election.
Regardless of who emerges as the winner of today’s election, the victor will be sworn in on May 29th to serve as the President of Nigeria for a four-year term. The newly elected President will succeed President Muhammadu Buhari, whose second term in office will come to an end on that same day.
In addition to the presidential election, over 4,000 candidates are vying for positions in the National Assembly. Specifically, 1,100 candidates are competing for 108 out of the 109 seats in the Senate, while 3,057 candidates are contesting for the 360 seats in the House of Representatives.
However, due to the recent murder of the Labour Party candidate, Oyibo Chukwu, the election in Enugu East Senatorial District has been postponed until March 11th.
Despite this unfortunate event, the elections for the remaining positions in the National Assembly are still scheduled to hold as planned.
The lawmakers who are elected in today’s election will be inaugurated in June as members of the 10th session of the bicameral federal legislature in Nigeria.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reported that a total of 93.5 million Nigerians registered to vote in the general election.
However, only slightly over 87 million voters, who have collected their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), will be able to participate in the poll. These eligible voters are spread across Nigeria’s 36 states, 774 local government areas, and 8,809 wards, and will cast their ballots in 176,846 polling units.
For the 2023 general election in Nigeria, a total of 1.5 million individuals have been selected to serve as agents for the 18 political parties that are participating in the election.
Despite some apprehension caused by the ongoing naira crisis and security challenges in the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured the public that it is ready for the polls.
INEC recently conducted a mock accreditation exercise to test its preparedness for the election, and its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, has emphasized the commission’s commitment to ensuring a free and fair process.
Yakubu also stated that INEC’s loyalty is to the country, and it will do everything in its power to uphold the integrity of the electoral process.
Aside the deploying of thousands of ad hoc staff, with the NYSC contributing about 200,000 for today’s election, the electoral management body is employing new technologies, including the Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Integrated Results and Verification System (IReV), which it believes are capable of preventing election rigging and ensuring the transparency and credibility of the polls.
To guarantee the safety of the voting process, Nigeria’s security agencies and military have assured the public that they are prepared to secure the polls. In total, close to a million personnel will be deployed in all the states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), with the police accounting for over 310,973 of them.
Other security outfits also deploying their personnel include the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) with 102,000 personnel, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) with 21,783 personnel, the Nigeria Correctional Service with 11,336 personnel, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 9,447 personnel, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with 9,447 personnel, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with 350 personnel, and the Nigeria Immigration Service with 21,640 personnel.
However, the political parties and their candidates have taken steps to ensure a violence-free process by signing pacts.
A total of 229 observer groups comprising 196 domestic and 33 international observers will also be deploying 146,913 observers for the election. Some of the foreign observers are drawn from the European Union, Commonwealth, African Union, ECOWAS, NDI and IRI. Similarly, media organisations and other relevant bodies have been accredited by the election management body to observe the election.
Daniel Bwala, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Policy Communication, has predicted that President Tinubu will defeat his major challengers by a wide margin in the 2027 presidential election.
Bwala made the prediction on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today, where he discussed the political strength of the Tinubu administration and the state of the opposition ahead of the 2027 elections.
He said the margin of victory for Tinubu would be so wide that Nigerians would be surprised.
SEE ALSO: Tinubu Celebrates Adviser Daniel Bwala On 50th Birthday
“Let me tell you, and let me say it categorically, and I’ll be happy to come back. The margin of gap that President Bola Tinubu will give each and every one of these candidates will be so much that you won’t believe it,” Bwala said.
Explaining the basis for his prediction, Bwala pointed to the number of governors he said had aligned with the president, arguing that governors control important political structures within their respective states.
“No, I am saying—you asked me to give data now. So this is data. You used to conjecture, I speak to data,” he said.
“Since then, President Bola Tinubu has got how many governors on his side? How many governors have joined him? The governors are the chief executive officers of their respective states. They coordinate the structures of the state. They won their own election to be governors.”
Bwala said the support of the governors would translate into political structures, resources and goodwill for Tinubu ahead of the election.
“These people say, ‘We are putting our goodwill, our resources, our structure, and our support to the President.’ You multiply that by the number of people that have come to him, then you stretch it further by the people who are impacted positively by his… what do you call it? By his policy,” he added.
The presidential aide also cited what he described as progress under Tinubu since 2023.
“Then you look at how his… Before he became President, the Naira… you couldn’t trade with the Naira around the world. You can do it now!” he said.
“So these are facts, verifiable data to suggest that President Bola from 2023 to now has made a marked progress.”
Bwala Claims Atiku, Obi Have Lost Key Supporters
Bwala also turned his attention to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, who are among the prominent opposition figures expected to feature prominently in the 2027 presidential contest.
He claimed Atiku had lost a significant number of key political figures who previously worked with him.
“But in terms of the other candidates who said he will not win: Atiku Abubakar lost close to 35% of key people that you know around him,” Bwala said.
“All the governors that worked for him that time are not going to be with him, I need you to know that in case you don’t know.”
Bwala also claimed Obi had lost most of the critical figures who supported his 2023 presidential campaign.
“Peter Obi lost 75% of the critical people that carried his campaign—they’ve all disappeared,” he said.
“And some of them went to Atiku, some of them went wherever they could go to. In terms of the other candidate, they just came to mark presence there.”
‘They Lost the Election Already’
Bwala further accused some opposition politicians of displaying what he described as a “defeatist attitude” ahead of the 2027 election.
“But I’m talking of these people that you think they are making a case—what they have is what we call defeatist attitude,” he said.
“How can you in one breath say you’re winning election, and in another breath you’re already threatening Nigeria will be… there will be no Nigeria, there will be all those things?”
He added: “Even the talking points of their campaign will suggest to you that they’ve lost the victory. They lost the election already.”
Bwala Defends Tinubu’s Policies
The presidential aide also defended the administration’s policies, arguing that they were improving the lives of Nigerians, particularly those in the informal sector.
“See, how can our policy… Our policy is raising a lot of people from the doldrums,” Bwala said.
“Look at the people in the informal sector of the economy, the women… You need to see—some of these your news media have been covering it.”
He also questioned the level of engagement some opposition politicians had with ordinary Nigerians before becoming prominent political figures.
“In terms of these people you’ve mentioned, tell me the last time they were actively involved in caring about the internal… When was the last time Amechi, before today, before he was made Vice President, that he had any engagement with the masses?” he asked.
“So you can come overnight, immediately, and just start talking?”
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has said he would bring the price of petrol down to about ₦300 per litre if elected president in the 2027 general election.
Duke disclosed this on Wednesday while explaining his proposed approach to crude oil production and domestic fuel supply.
ALSO READ: 2027: INEC Must Prove Nigerians Wrong on Election Credibility — Donald Duke
When asked about the realistic price of petrol under his presidency, the former Cross River State governor said his target would be to reduce the pump price to about ₦300 per litre.
“To bring it to about 300 Naira. I’ve told you… it sounds so outlandish, but I’ve given you the arithmetic,” Duke said.
He explained that his proposal would be based on allocating a portion of Nigeria’s crude oil production for domestic consumption and selling the remaining volume.
According to him, if the country’s daily consumption requires 600,000 barrels, that volume would be allocated for domestic use, while the remaining one million barrels would be sold.
“Because I allocate 600,000 barrels if that’s what you consume daily. Allocate that to yourself. The other one million, you can sell,” he said.
His proposal comes as the cost of petrol remains a major issue in Nigeria, with fuel prices having significant implications for transportation, businesses and household expenses.
Duke is seeking the presidency on the platform of the PRP in the 2027 general election.
Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate for the 2027 general election, Donald Duke, has challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to prove to Nigerians that it can deliver a free and fair election.
Duke made the call on Wednesday while speaking about the credibility of Nigeria’s electoral process and public confidence in INEC.
The former Cross River State governor said the onus was on the electoral commission to convince Nigerians that the 2027 election would be free and fair, noting that previous developments had left many citizens sceptical about INEC.
SEE ALSO: 2027: Donald Duke Reveals Why He Wants to Be Nigeria’s President
“INEC has to prove… the onus is on them actually to convince Nigerians that there will be a free and fair election,” Duke said.
He recalled the postponement of the 2019 general election, which was announced just hours before voting was scheduled to begin.
According to him, the development contributed to Nigerians’ growing distrust of the electoral commission.
Duke said INEC had assured the public of its preparedness for the election before the postponement, which was announced around 4am on election day.
He criticised the explanations given for the postponement, saying the commission should have taken responsibility for the situation.
The PRP candidate, who contested the 2019 presidential election on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), said he was on the ballot at the time but did not participate because his party was involved in court proceedings.
Duke further said the fact that the same electoral institution remains responsible for conducting elections means INEC must now work to restore public confidence.
“That same INEC, the institution still exists, so the onus is on them,” he said.
He added: “The onus is really on INEC. They’ve got to prove the skeptics wrong. But so far, their records in the past, there’s a lot to… expectations are poor.”
Duke also recalled concerns surrounding the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the 2023 general election.
“The last election in ’23, the BVAS suddenly stopped working. Now, he says it’s going to work. Let’s see,” he said.
The PRP candidate’s comments come as political parties and candidates intensify preparations for the 2027 general election, with INEC expected to conduct the presidential and National Assembly elections in January 2027.
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