Its citizens Nigeria heading to the polls today to elect in an uncertain ballot the next president of his most populous nation Africawhich is still immersed in a serious crisis, both economic and security.

At the age of 80, President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down, as required by the constitution, after two terms marked by insecurity and widespread poverty in a country where 60% of the population is under 25.

For the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1999, Nigeria could hold a two-round presidential election as the former governor’s popularity threatens to erode the dominance of the country’s two largest parties.

More than 87 million voters are being called to 176,000 polling stations to select the next president from among 18 candidates, as well as members of Nigeria’s two houses of national delegation: the House of Representatives and the Senate. About 6 million voters out of 93 million registered in the voter lists have not issued new voting cards and therefore cannot exercise their right to vote.

Polling stations were supposed to open around 08:30 (local time; 09:30 Greek time) until 14:30 (15:30), but voters who will still be standing in lines after this one – quite busy – schedule ends, will have the right to vote.

The election date is considered critical. With a population of 216 million, Nigeria is expected to become the third most populous country on the planet by 2050 as West Africa is threatened by an alarming decline in democracy and an even more alarming spread of jihadist violence.

The continent’s largest economy, quite unexpectedly, has also grown into a global cultural force, largely thanks to Afrobeats, a music genre that is taking the planet by storm, with stars like Burna Boy and Wizkid.

But tomorrow’s president will, above all, inherit many problems: the violence of criminals and jihadists in the north and center of the country, the activities of armed separatist movements in the southeast, galloping inflation, worsening poverty.

And if that wasn’t enough, it was the recent fuel and banknote shortages that sparked the riots.

“The Need for Change”

“We have no fuel, we have no food, the whole world is suffering,” Abdullahi Ondu, a 31-year-old Lagos resident, said yesterday on the eve of the election, adding that “the country needs change.”

That is what the three favorites are promising, including 70-year-old Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling APC party. A former governor of Lagos, dubbed “the godfather” because of his vast influence, this Yoruba Muslim from southwestern Nigeria claims he is the only one who can set the country on the right path.

He is accused of corruption – he denies it – as is Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the strongest opposition party, the PDP (in power from 1999 to 2015). At 76, the former vice president (1999-2007), also a Muslim, is running for president for the sixth time. Originally from the north, he hopes to ride there.

Ethnic and religious voting is critical in Nigeria, a nation of over 250 tribes often polarized between the Muslim north and the Christian south.

For the two veterans of the Nigerian political scene, the biggest challenge has come from former Anambra (South East) Governor Peter Obi, 61, a Christian by faith backed by a small Labor Party. He primarily charms the youth and voters of his country.

The election campaign was marked by attacks on local candidates, activists, police stations, election commission offices…

“The risk of an outbreak of violence is a real concern,” warns Saeed Husseini of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD).

The Electoral Commission hopes that two-way voter credential verification with facial recognition and fingerprint verification will help curb allegations of fraud that have marred previous electoral processes. As well as the transfer of results in electronic form.

But the use of new technologies, unprecedented on a national scale, raises concerns that they will create problems.

Participation, low in previous elections (33% in 2019), is an unknown variable. Also, the situation could be changed by a significant increase in new registered voters (10 million, of which 76% are under 34).

General insecurity, among other things, “could cause voting problems,” the International Crisis Group think tank noted in its analysis.

Around 400,000 members of the security forces will be deployed to secure the process.

The results are expected to be announced within 14 days of the vote.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}