In Nigeria’s Election, Muhammadu Buhari Defeats Goodluck Jonathan
KANO, Nigeria – With anger swelling over corruption, inequality and a devastating Islamist insurgency in the nation’s north, Nigerians chose a former general who once ruled with an iron hand to be their next president, according to election results Tuesday.
The election was the most competitive presidential race ever in Nigeria, one of the largest democracies in the world. Now, if power is handed over peacefully, it will be a major shift for the nation – the first transfer of power between civilians of different parties in a country that has spent much of its post-colonial history roiled by military coups.
With all but one of Nigeria’s 36 states counted, the former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, held a lead of more than 2 million votes over President Goodluck Jonathan.
The remaining state is in the north, where Buhari enjoys broad support and the government has been widely condemned for allowing the Boko Haram militant group to sweep through villages and towns, killing thousands of civilians.
Since the end of military rule in 1999, Nigeria has been governed by a single, dominant party – Jonathan’s Peoples Democratic Party.
But on Tuesday, Buhari’s campaign said it was confident that it had won.
“We knew that we had the numbers last night, but dealing with the type of government we have, we have never really felt we are out of the woods,” said Garba Shehu, a campaign spokesman for Buhari’s party, the All Progressives Congress. “Clearly we have won it. We are going to the party headquarters now and the presidential candidate will declare victory.”
Many analysts have long said that a victory for Buhari would be more of a repudiation of the current president than a celebration of Buhari’s past leadership.
On Jonathan’s watch, Nigeria has been pummeled by Boko Haram, its economic fortunes have plunged with falling oil prices, economic inequality is rampant and corruption scandals have buffeted the president’s image.
Buhari swept critical competitive states in the country’s southwest. A belated convert to democracy, Buhari also piled up large vote totals, as expected, in his northern stronghold, crushing the incumbent here in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city.
Analysts said that the election could mean the beginning of a competitive two-party system in a country often seen as a bellwether on the continent.