Four front line candidates in the race to become the next President of Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, on Saturday cast their votes at their respective polling units across Nigeria.
Though 18 candidates are in the race, analysts have described the contest as a four-horse race between Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
While Obi and Tinubu are from the southern region of the country, Kwankwaso and Atiku come from the northern part of Nigeria. The four heavyweights and strong contenders have large followers, with numerical potential of emerging as the successor of President Muhammadu Buhari whose two-term tenure ends on May 29, 2023.
Accreditation and voting commenced around 08:30am at most of the 176,606 polling units scattered across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that make up Nigeria, as 87.2 million voters with Permanent Voter Cards go to the polls to elect a new president and members of the country’s National Assembly.
The APC presidential flag bearer, Bola Tinubu, cast his vote at a polling unit in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Tinubu voted alongside his wife, Remi, and other party chieftains.
Addressing reporters, he said “democracy is here to stay” in Nigeria and that he is “too confident of victory”.
He said the voting process is “going smoothly” and “going well”.
On the turnout of voters, the APC candidate said, “This is expected, we need a good turnout and that is the adoption and the commitment to democracy and the democratic process must take place.”
The two-term former Lagos governor from 1999 to 2007 and a member of the APC is undoubtedly a force in the race.
The Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, cast his vote at polling unit 19 in the Agulu area of the Aniocha Local Government Area of Anambra State in Nigeria’s South-East geopolitical zone.
Obi and his wife Margaret cast their vote around 11:45am on Saturday after joining the voting queue for about 30 minutes.
Addressing reporters after he voted, Obi said the process was “seamless”.
Many pre-election polls have predicted victory for the 61-year-old businessman who is running alongside Kaduna-based Datti Baba-Ahmed.
Atiku voted at Polling Unit 012, Ajiya Ward in the Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State. He voted alongside his wife, Titi.
The former Vice-President, who addressed journalists, expressed optimism and confidence that he will emerge the winner of the presidential election and succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.
Atiku was the PDP candidate in 2019 and he came second with over 11 million votes right behind Buhari who polled over 15 million votes.
Kwankwaso cast his vote at a polling unit in the Kwankwaso town of Madobi Local Government Area of Kano State.
Addressing reporters after voting, Kwankwaso said accreditation and voting didn’t start in the polling unit till 11 am as against 08:30am. He, therefore, appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be a “little bit patient” for his supporters to vote.