Nigerian presidential election, 2011

Nigerian presidential election, 2011

2007 ← 16 April 2011

Nominee Goodluck Jonathan Muhammadu Buhari Nuhu Ribadu Party PDP CPC ACN Running mate Namadi Sambo Tunde Bakare Fola Adeola Popular vote 22,495,187 12,214,853 2,079,151 Percentage 58.89% 31.98% 5.41%

President before election Goodluck Jonathan PDP Elected President Goodluck Jonathan PDP

Nigeria

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Nigeria

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A presidential election was held in Nigeria on 16 April 2011, postponed from 9 April 2011.^[1][2] The election follows controversy as to whether a Muslim or Christian 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, who was a Muslim, and Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian, assuming the interim presidency.

Following the election widespread violence took place in the north of the country.^[3] Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner on 19 April.^[4]

Background

A gentlemen's agreement meant that power rotates between Muslim north and Christian south every two terms, which means this election is scheduled to be represented by a Muslim.^[5] After the death of President Umar Yar'Adua, Northern Muslim, his Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, a Southern Christian, took over as acting president. The suggestion that Jonathan was considering running for the presidency in his own right was controversial as Yar'Adua had only served one of the two possible terms as president after Southerner Olusegun Obasanjo.^[6]

Candidates

Due to the zoning system a Northern Muslim candidate, Ibrahim Babangida, a former general and military ruler, and Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, as expected, ran for the presidency.

After initial doubts,^[5] the interim president Goodluck Jonathan declared his intention to run for the presidency on 18 September, 2010.^[7] Muhammadu Buhari is seen by some as a principle opposition to Jonathan besides Nuhu Ribadu.^[8]

There are sixty-three registered political parties in Nigeria, of which twenty-one fielded candidates:^[9][10]

Political parties	Presidential candidates	Running mates
ACN	Nuhu Ribadu[11]	Fola Adeola[10]
ADC	Peter Nwangwu[10]	Mani Ibrahim Ahmad[10]
ANPP	Ibrahim Shekarau[12]	John Odigie Oyegun[10]
AFP	Yahaya Ndu[10]
BNPP	Iheanyichukwu Nnaji[10]	Kadijat Abubakar[10]
CPC	Muhammadu Buhari[13]	Tunde Bakare[10]
FDP	Chris Okotie[10]
HDP	Ambrose Awuru[10]	Ibrahim Abdullahi[10]
LDP	Chris Nwaokobia[10]
NCP	Dele Momodu[10]	Yunusa Tanko[10]
NMDP	Akpona Solomon[10]	-
NTP	John Dara[10]	-
MPPP	Rasheed Shitta-Bey[10]	-
PDC	Mahmud Waziri[10]	Clement Eze[10]
PDP	Goodluck Jonathan[14]	Namadi Sambo[10]
PMP	Nwadike Chikezie[10]	-
SDMP	Patrick Utomi[10]	Lawal Funtua[10]
UNPD	Ebiti Ndok[10]	Galadima Samari[10]
	Ibrahim Babangida[15]

Campaign

Following a bombing in Abuja during Nigeria's 50th anniversary celebrations and the consequent arrest and interrogation of the Director General of Babangida campaign, Raymond Dokpesi, there were calls for him to quit the race. In addition, there were others who linked his affiliated to the blasts. He responded in saying it would be "idiotic to link" him with attack. Even before the blasts, however, some of his former loyalists, popularly called "IBB Boys," apparently asked him to quit the presidential race so as not to avoid being rubbished by a non-General.^[16]

Controversy

Postponement

In September 2010, the election commission requested a postponement of the polls citing the need for more time to overhaul the national electoral register. Critics were upset over the proposal.^[17] The election was postponed from January to April due to the release of a new electronic voter registration software.^[2]

Pre-election violence

In December 2010, bombs went off in Yenegoa, Bayelsa State during a gubernatorial campaign rally. There were also bombings and shootings in the north blamed on Boko Haram. Politicians and police said that the campaign of violence aimed to disrupt the election.^[18]

Result

This map shows the states won by Jonathan (in green), Buhari (red), and Ribadu (blue).

The elections was reported in the international media as having run smoothly with relatively little violence or voter fraud in contrast to previous elections.^[14]

e • d Summary of the 16 April 2011 Nigerian presidential election results

Candidates	Parties	Votes	%
Goodluck Jonathan	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	22,495,187	58.89
Muhammadu Buhari	Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)	12,214,853	31.98
Nuhu Ribadu	Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)	2,079,151	5.41
Ibrahim Shekarau	All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP)	917,012	2.40
Mahmud Waziri	People for Democratic Change (PDC)	82,243	0.21
Nwadike Chikezie	Peoples Mandate Party (PMP)	56,248	0.15
Lawson Igboanugo Aroh	Peoples Progressive Party (PPP)	54,203	0.14
Peter Nwangwu	African Democratic Congress (ADC)	51,682	0.14
Iheanyichukwu Nnaji	Better Nigeria Progressive Party (BNPP)	47,272	0.12
Chris Okotie	Fresh Democratic Party (FRESH)	34,331	0.09
Dele Momodu	National Conscience Party (NCP)	26,376	0.07
Akpona Solomon	National Majority Democratic Party (NMDP)	25,938	0.07
Lawrence Makinde Adedoyin	African Political System (APS)	23,740	0.06
Ebiti Ndok	United National Party for Development (UNPD)	21,203	0.06
John Dara	National Transformation Party (NTP)	19,744	0.05
Rasheed Shitta-Bey	Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP)	16,492	0.04
Yahaya Ndu	African Renaissance Party (ARP)	12,264	0.03
Ambrose Awuru	Hope Democratic Party (HDP)	12,023	0.03
Patrick Utomi	Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP)	11,544	0.03
Chris Nwaokobia	Liberal Democratic Party of Nigeria (LDPN)	8,472	0.02
Invalid votes		1,259,506	3.19
Valid votes (turnout 53.7%)		39,469,484	96.81
Source: INEC

References

1. ^ "Nigeria to hold presidential election on 9 April". BBC News. 23 November 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11825092. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Nigeria’s General Elections Postponed From January To April As A New Voter Registration Software Is Released By The Inec - All West Africa News
3. ^ "Jonathan rival rejects vote result as thousands flee Nigeria unrest". Daily Nation (Kenya). 20 April, 2011. http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/1148266/-/12k89km/-/index.html. Retrieved 21 April, 2011. 
4. ^ Purefoy, Christian (19 April 2011). "Widespread election violence erupts in Nigeria". CNN. http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/04/19/nigeria.election/?hpt=T1. Retrieved 20 April 2011. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Nigeria sets presidential poll date - Africa - Al Jazeera English
6. ^ Maja-Pearce, Adewale (16 August 2010). "Nigeria's 2011 presidential race tests North-South powersharing agreement". Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Africa/Africa-Monitor/2010/0816/Nigeria-s-2011-presidential-race-tests-North-South-powersharing-agreement. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
7. ^ Jonathan declares Nigeria poll bid - Africa - Al Jazeera English
8. ^ http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/20114101866893616.html
9. ^ Nigeria News | Politics | BATTLE OVER 'MEGA' TEARS TWO PARTIES APART
10. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z} Ndujihe, Clifford. "Nigeria Presidential Candidate List for 2011 and Their Empty Promises". Naijan. http://naijan.com/nigeria-presidential-candidate-list-for-2011-and-their-empty-promises/. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
11. ^ "Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan to seek one term". BBC News. 1 February 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12339017. 
12. ^ "Nigeria 2011 Presidential Candidates". Indepth Africa. http://indepthafrica.com/news/westafrica/nigeria-2011-presidential-candidates/. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
13. ^ "Nigeria ex-military ruler picked for presidency bid". Reuters. 5 January 2011. http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE70400N20110105. 
14. ^ ^{a b} Nossiter, Adam (16 April 2011). "Nigerians Vote in Presidential Election". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
15. ^ Adisa, Taiwo (9 October 2010). "Abuja Bomb Blasts: Odds Against IBB". The Tribune. http://www.tribune.com.ng/sat/index.php/front-page-articles/2238-abuja-bomb-blasts-odds-against-ibb.html. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 
16. ^ Abuja Bomb Blasts: Odds Against IBB
17. ^ Plea to postpone Nigeria poll - Africa - Al Jazeera English
18. ^ "Bombs, shootings hit Nigeria before election year". Reuters. 29 December 2010. http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE6BP0PM20101229.