Millions of Nigerians, especially the youth are poised to vote in what is billed as the most competitive presidential election since military rule ended.
Voting is expected to begin at 08:30 local time (07:30 GMT), though anyone in the queue before it ends at 14:30 will be allowed to vote.
Since 1999, Africa’s most populous country has been dominated by two parties; the ruling APC and the PDP.
However, this time, there is also a strong challenge from a third-party candidate; the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who is backed by many young people.
Current President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping aside after serving two four-year terms.
His All Progressives Congress (APC) is represented by former Lagos Governor, Bola Tinubu, while former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is standing for the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). There are a total of 18 presidential candidates.
The lead-up to the polls has been overshadowed by a cash shortage caused by the attempt to redesign the currency, leading to widespread chaos at banks and cash machines as desperate people sought access to their money.
Whoever wins will have to deal with the currency redesign, a crumbling economy, high youth unemployment, and widespread insecurity which saw 10,000 killed last year.
After the killing of a senatorial candidate on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 by suspected gunmen from the separatist group, Ipob, the parliamentary election was postponed in the south-eastern Enugu East constituency.
The election has seen a huge interest from first-time voters and young people – a third of the 87 million eligible voters are below 35 – which may lead to a high voter turn-out than the 35% recorded in 2019.
“It is my responsibility and I have seen how important it is to vote,” 19-year-old first time voter, Blessing Ememumodak disclosed.
Elections are also being held for 109 federal senators and 360 members of the house of representatives, with that for governors holding in March.
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) listed 1,101 candidates in the running for 109 senatorial seats, while 3,122 candidates would vie for 360 House of Representatives seats.
The INEC has promised free and fair elections, and has dismissed talk of postponement amid fears of insecurity in parts of the country and the cash shortage that many feared might affect its preparations.
First Time Of Using BVAS
It is the first time INEC will conduct national elections using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), a facial and fingerprints technology that is thought to improve transparency by making it harder for politicians to rig the process.
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s voter register totals 94 million, and no fewer than 87.2 million of them have obtained their permanent voter cards (PVCs) in anticipation of the nationwide vote today as well as on March 11 for the governorship and state houses of assembly elections.
The top three states in collected PVCs are Lagos (6,214,970), Kano (5,594,193) and Kaduna (4,335,208).
Final results have been announced on the third day after voting in the last two elections, but they may come in earlier this time because of BVAS, which also uploads vote results directly to the INEC website direct from polling stations.
INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, has confirmed that the Commission will speed up the process this year.
A candidate needs to have the most votes and 25% of ballots cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states to be declared the winner.
If no-one achieves that, there will be a run-off within 21 days – a first in Nigeria’s history.
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