NAME: ONOVO CHIDUBEM FRANKLIN

NAME OF SUBJECT: CIVIC EDUCATION

CLASS: HS1

TOPIC: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

ASSIGNMENT:WRITE A PAPER ON THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

ANSWER

The 2023 Nigerian presidential election was held on 25 February 2023[a] to elect the president and vice
president of Nigeria. Bola Tinubu—the former Governor of Lagos State and nominee of the All
Progressives Congress, won the disputed election with 36.61% of the vote, 8,794,726 total votes.
Runners-up were former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Peoples Democratic Party, and former Governor
of Anambra State Peter Obi, Labour Party, who both immediately contested the result; Obi claimed he
won. Other federal elections, including elections to the House of Representatives and the Senate, held
on the same date while state elections will be held two weeks afterward on 11 March. The inauguration
is set for 29 May 2023.

The candidates were nominated in the party primaries conducted between 4 April and 9 June 2022.
Incumbent APC President Muhammadu Buhari was term-limited and could not seek re-election for a
third term. The New Nigeria Peoples Party nominated Governor of Kano State Rabiu Kwankwaso. In the
weeks after the primaries, vice presidential running mates were announced with Abubakar choosing
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Obi selecting former Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, Tinubu picking Senator
Kashim Shettima, and Kwankwaso choosing pastor Isaac Idahosa.

The general election was noted by initially high projected turnout and mainly peaceful voting but was
marred by reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, attacks on polling units in certain areas, and
unpunctual electoral officials along with accusations of outright fraud; to compound issues with trust in
the election, Independent National Electoral Commission officials failed to upload polling unit results to
the INEC result viewing portal as previously assured would happen on election day. As state results
started to be announced on 26 February at the national collation centre in Abuja, opposition emerged as
results data had still not been fully uploaded prior to their announcement in accordance with the law.
These circumstances along with statements critical of INEC from observers and civil society groups led
the Abubakar, Obi, and Kwankwaso campaigns to question and then officially reject the announced
election results by 28 February. All three main opposition campaigns, in addition to some civil society
groups and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, called on the commission to rerun the election due to
fraud and violence. Meanwhile, the Tinubu campaign praised the commission and called for the arrest of
PDP spokesmen for "incitement of violence". In the early morning of 1 March, INEC Chairman Mahmood
Yakubu declared Tinubu as the victor after all state results were collated. In response, Abubakar, Obi, and
Kwankwaso rejected and vowed to challenge the results. On 2 March Peter Obi claimed he won the
election and will prove it.

Electoral system

The President of Nigeria is elected using a modified two-round system with up to three rounds. To be
elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a plurality of the national vote and over 25% of the
vote in at least 24 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. If no candidate passes this threshold,
a second round is held between the top candidate and the candidate winning the second-highest
number of states. To win in the second round, a candidate must still receive the most votes nationally
and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. If neither
candidate passes this threshold, a third round is held where a simple majority of the national vote is
required to be elected.

Background

After the first term of Muhammadu Buhari as President, he won re-election to the office as the nominee
of the All Progressives Congress by defeating Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party with a
margin of 14 percentage points—nearly 4 million votes. For the legislative elections, the APC solidified its
majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate after nearly losing the majorities due to
defections in 2018. On the state level, the PDP gained two governorships in total as the party gained four
governorships from the APC while the APC gained two governorships from the PDP. During the first two
years of the 2019–2023 term, the APC expanded slightly through the defections of dozens of state and
federal legislators and three governors—Ebonyi State's Dave Umahi, Cross River State's Benedict Ayade,
and Zamfara State's Bello Muhammad Matawalle—but went through a prolonged leadership crisis; for
the PDP, the losses through defection took a toll but the party resolved its leadership crisis and held a
peaceful convention. During the second half of the term, both parties were hit by defections but the APC
held its long-postponed convention and the PDP underwent public disputes over not zoning its
presidential nomination.

Ahead of Buhari's second term, his promises included the completion of in-process rail lines and other
infrastructure projects, the further inclusion of women in government, educational reform, and
increasing anti-corruption initiatives.In terms of his performance, the administration was commended
for improving the agriculture sector, finishing infrastructure projects, successful advances in the fight
against terrorists in the northeast, securing the return of previously looted public funds from abroad,
and increasing the minimum wage. However, he faced criticism for abandoning anti-corruption
initiatives, poor quality of life, an increasingly dire security situation outside of the northeast (bandits
and some terrorist expansion in the North West, herder-farmer and interethnic conflicts in the North
Central, pirates and illegal oil bunkering gangs in the Niger Delta, and a violent separatist movement in
the South East along with nationwide kidnapping and security force brutality epidemics), and increasing
national debt.[excessive citations]

Buhari also came under fire for instituting a seven-month long national ban on Twitter after the site
removed an abusive tweet he posted in reference to the Civil War; the ban was decried as a failed
attempt at censorship. Another key source of controversy was the administration's handling of the
October 2020 protest wave of the End SARS movement with the most fervent criticism emerging over
the Lekki massacre when soldiers in Lagos killed multiple peaceful protesters before the Army and
administration attempted to deny the shooting ever took place.

Buhari also had to contend with a fluctuating, but consistently low, approval rating.

Primary elections[edit]

The primaries, along with any potential challenges to primary results, were to take place between 4 April
and 3 June 2022 but the deadline was extended to 9 June. An informal zoning gentlemen's agreement
sets the South (the South East, South South, and South West geopolitical zones) to have the next
President as Buhari, a Northerner, was elected twice.Another informal convention calls for nominees to
have vice presidential running mates from a different region and religion as themselves. Despite the
arrangement, most parties did not formally close their primaries to non-Southern candidates or officially
designate that their tickets cannot have running mates of the same religion.

Both the APC and PDP had heated internal debates over zoning and same religion tickets in the year
ahead of the primary. Despite the informal convention, the People's Democratic Party declined to
formally zone its nomination in early May 2022 before going against the convention to nominate
northerner Atiku Abubakar; the All Progressives Congress also declined to formally zone its nomination
but later nominated a southerner, Bola Tinubu, as its flagbearer. The APC, however, did break the other
major convention by picking a same religion ticket; the PDP did not.

All Progressives Congress

2022 All Progressives Congress presidential primary

← 2019 8 June 2022 2027

Elected Presidential Nominee

Bola Tinubu

APC

With Muhammadu Buhari having been elected to the presidency twice, he was ineligible for
renomination. In July 2021, then-national APC Caretaker Chairman and Yobe State Governor Mai Mala
Buni backed the consensus method of nominating a presidential candidate instead of the more common
direct or indirect primary methods but the party did not come to a decision on the primary method at
the time. During Buni's term as Caretaker Chairman from 2020 to 2022, he campaigned heavily for
prominent PDP members to defect to the APC, weakening the opposition's caucus in the National
Assembly and gaining three governors—Ebonyi State's Dave Umahi, Cross River State's Benedict Ayade,
and Zamfara State's Bello Muhammad Matawalle—in 2020 and 2021. However, the APC's electoral
performance and party unity were more mixed as it came a distant third in the 2021 Anambra State
gubernatorial election[b] and was still beset by infighting.The APC primary was framed in the wider
context of internal party feuds stemming from the APC's formation in 2013 and pre-2019 election party
crises to the 2020 removal of party leadership and contentious 2021 state party congresses. The ability
of the APC national caretaker committee to resolve state party factionizations and properly organize the
2022 national party convention was seen as vital for both the APC's presidential chances and its future as
a party. After several postponements, the convention was successfully held on 26 March 2022 despite
some controversy over the consensus method used for most party offices.

In terms of zoning, there was no announced formal zoning agreement for the APC nomination despite
calls from certain politicians and interest groups such as the Southern Governors' Forum to zone the
nomination to the South as Buhari, a Northerner, was elected twice. Countering its proponents were
prospective candidates from the North and the Northern Governors' Forum, which did not oppose a
southern presidency but initially disagreed with formal zoning. On the other hand, there were few
proponents of a same religion ticket, mainly supporters and allies of eventual nominee Bola Tinubu who
argued that there were few powerful Northern Christian APC politicians who could be his running mate.
Allies of other potential candidates and groups like the Christian Association of Nigeria came out strongly
against the idea of a same religion ticket on grounds of national unity and religious harmony.

On 20 April 2022, the APC National Executive Committee announced the party timetable for the
presidential primary and that the primary would use the indirect primary method. The announcement
set the party's expression of interest form price at ₦30 million and the nomination form price at ₦70
million with a 50% nomination form discount for candidates younger than 40 while women and
candidates with disabilities get free nomination forms. Forms were to be sold from 26 April to 6 May
until the deadline was later extended to 10 May then 12 May. After the submission of nomination forms
by 13 May, candidates were to be screened by a party committee on 24 and 25 May but it was delayed
several times to while the screening appeal process will take place afterwards. Ward congresses and LGA
congresses were rescheduled for between 12 and 14 May to elect "ad hoc delegates" for the primary.
Candidates approved by the screening process were to advance to a primary set for 30 May and 1 June
but the party delayed the primary to 6–8 June.

Before the primary, controversy over the prospective electors emerged due to the legal ramifications of
the amended Electoral Act. After years of debate and public pressure, Buhari signed a new Electoral Act
in January 2022 that drastically reformed election and electoral systems for both primary and general
elections. One of the reforms was the exclusion of ex officio "statutory delegates"—thousands of current
and former officeholders—from voting in party primaries; National Assembly leadership said the
exclusion was inadvertent and in May, NASS passed an amendment to the act to allow statutory
delegates to vote in primaries. However, Buhari refused to sign the amendment into law, forcing the APC
to suddenly prohibit statutory delegates from voting. Not only did the action prevent Buhari and other
high-ranking officeholders from voting, it drastically reduced the number of delegates from over 7,800 to
just the 2,322 elected "ad hoc delegates."

The pre-primary period was dominated by questions about major candidates and Buhari's endorsement.
Of the formally announced candidates, analysts viewed six as the major contenders: Rotimi Amaechi—
former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Kayode Fayemi—Governor of
Ekiti State, Ahmad Lawan—Senate President, Yemi Osinbajo—Vice President, former science minister
Ogbonnaya Onu, and Bola Tinubu—former Governor of Lagos State; however, two potential surprises
emerged: former President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor of the Central Bank Godwin Emefiele.
Groups purchasing forms on behalf of Emefiele and Jonathan coupled with months of speculation about
their candidacies led to rumours of a plot to impose one of the two as nominee despite the legally-
mandated nonpartisanship of Emefiele's office and Jonathan's membership in the PDP; neither
candidacy came to fruition as Jonathan refused the forms, while Emefiele was forced to withdraw due to
public pressure. The other main question was Buhari's endorsement; despite months of contending that
he would not weigh in on the primary, about a week before the primary, Buhari held a meeting with APC
governors where he asked them to support his preferred candidate. Reports emerged that while the vast
majority of governors agreed, a few rejected the proposal or did not state their position. Another point
of contention was the oft-postponed candidate screening, where a committee led by former APC
National Chairman John Odigie Oyegun cleared all twenty-three candidates but recommended only
thirteen candidates continue their campaigns due to their perceived chances of victory.

In the days directly before the primary, the vast majority of northern APC governors released a letter in
support of a southern nominee where they also asked northern candidates to withdraw; in response,
one northern candidate withdrew from the primary. Later that day (4 June 2022), Buhari held a meeting
with most APC candidates where he reportedly privately backed a nominee from the south and told the
candidates to find a consensus nominee amongst themselves. However, on 6 June—the day before
primary voting, national party chairman Abdullahi Adamu told northern APC governors that the party's
(and Buhari's) consensus candidate would be Lawan; the announcement was met with opposition by
governors and other members of the party's National Working Committee leading the party to backtrack
and claim that Adamu was just expressing his personal opinion. The same day, Buhari stated that he had
no anointed candidate in the primary. Then early on primary day, APC governors and the party NWC
made a joint recommendation of five southern candidates—Amaechi, Fayemi, Osinbajo, Tinubu, and
Governor of Ebonyi State Dave Umahi—to Buhari while asking all other aspirants to withdraw from the
race. Seven other candidates released a joint statement rejecting the shortlist while all six southeastern
candidates penned a letter to Buhari asking that the nomination be zoned to the South-East.

On the day of the primary, delegates gathered in Eagle Square, Abuja to be accredited and vote. The
early part of the exercise was beset by logistical issues as there were significant delays in both delegate
and journalist accreditation along with the deployment of tear gas by security to disperse crowds.
Meanwhile, inside the Square, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission personnel took positions to
prevent bribery before candidates gave their final speeches to the delegates before voting. During these
speeches, six candidates—Godswill Akpabio, Ibikunle Amosun, Dimeji Bankole, Robert Ajayi Boroffice,
Fayemi, and Uju Kennedy Ohanenye—stepped down in favour of Tinubu and one aspirant—Nicholas
Felix—withdrew for Osinbajo while the remaining candidates issued promises and proposals for their
prospective campaigns. After the candidate's speeches and an address by Buhari, voting began in the
early morning of 8 June and after hours of voting, votes were publicly tabulated. When collation was
completed, Bola Tinubu emerged as nominee after results showed him winning 60% of the votes with a
margin of 45% over runner-up Amaechi. In his acceptance speech, Tinubu thanked his team while
striking a conciliatory tone in regards to his former opponents. Post-primary analysis noted multiple
potential reasons for Tinubu's victory, namely: other candidates' focus on a Buhari endorsement that
never came, the failure of Buhari's succession plan, bribery, and the last-minute withdrawals. The week
after the primary were based around the search for Tinubu's running mate, as Tinubu is a southern
Muslim it was expected that his running mate would be a northern Christian but controversy emerged as
some prominent APC politicians stated their openness to a Muslim-Muslim ticket. As the deadline
neared, the party submitted the name of Kabir Ibrahim Masari—a politician and party operative from
Katsina State—as a placeholder vice presidential nominee to be substituted at a later date.[9] On 10 July,
Ibrahim Masari withdrew and Tinubu announced Kashim Shettima—a senator and former Governor of
Borno State—as his running mate after a meeting with Buhari in Daura. Breaking the anti-same religion
ticket convention, Tinubu argued in a statement that "religion...cannot always and fully determine our
path" and that he picked "the man who can help me bring the best governance to all Nigerians, period,
regardless of their religious affiliation" and compared the ticket to the last Yoruba Muslim-Kanuri Muslim
ticket, the successful M. K. O. Abiola-Baba Gana Kingibe slate in 1993. Opponents, like the Christian
Association of Nigeria and civil society groups, derided the pick as divisive in a trying time for Nigerian
unity. Analysts noted the previous reports from before Tinubu was nominated that said his inner circle
did not think a Northern Christian would help the party in the majority-Muslim states and thus a fellow
Muslim should be picked.

Nominated

Bola Tinubu: former Governor of Lagos State (1999–2007) and former Senator for Lagos West (1992–
1993)

Running mate—Kashim Shettima: Senator for Borno Central (2019–present), former Governor of Borno
State (2011–2019), and son of former Governor of Northern Nigeria Kashim Ibrahim

Eliminated in primary

Rotimi Amaechi: former Minister of Transportation (2015–2019; 2019–2022), former Governor of Rivers
State (2007–2015), and former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly (1999–2007)

Benedict Ayade: Governor of Cross River State (2015–present) and former Senator for Cross River North
(2011–2015)

Tunde Bakare: pastor

Yahaya Bello: Governor of Kogi State (2016–present)

Tein Jack-Rich: businessman.

Ahmad Lawan: Senator for Yobe North (2007–present), President of the Senate (2019–present), and
former House of Representatives member for Bade/Jakusko (1999–2007)

Ikeobasi Mokelu: former Minister of Information and Culture

Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba: former Minister of State for Education (2019–2022) and former House of
Representatives member for Ehime Mbano/Ihitte Uboma/Obowo (2019; 1999–2003)

Rochas Okorocha: Senator for Imo West (2019–present) and former Governor of Imo State (2011–2019)

Ogbonnaya Onu: former Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (2015–2019; 2019–2022) and
former Governor of Abia State

Yemi Osinbajo: Vice President (2015–present)

Ahmad Sani Yerima: Senator for Zamfara West (2007–2019) and former Governor of Zamfara State
(1999–2007)

Dave Umahi: Governor of Ebonyi State (2015–present) and former Deputy Governor of Ebonyi State
(2011–2015)
Withdrew

Mohammed Badaru Abubakar: Governor of Jigawa State (2015–present)

Godswill Akpabio: former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs (2019–2022), former Senator for Akwa Ibom
North-West (2015–2019), and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State (2007–2015)

Ibikunle Amosun: Senator for Ogun Central (2003–2007; 2019–present) and former Governor of Ogun
State (2011–2019)

Moses Ayom: businessman

Dimeji Bankole: former House of Representatives member for Abeokuta South (2003–2011) and former
Speaker of the House of Representatives (2007–2011)

Robert Ajayi Boroffice: Senator for Ondo North (2011–present)

Ibrahim Bello Dauda: businessman

Kayode Fayemi: Governor of Ekiti State (2010–2014; 2018–present) and former Minister of Solid Mineral
Development (2015–2018)

Nicholas Felix: pastor

Adamu Garba II: businessman (defected before the primary to the YPP to unsuccessfully run in its
presidential primary)

Godwin Emefiele: Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (2014–present)

Orji Uzor Kalu: Senator for Abia North (2019–present) and former Governor of Abia State (1999–2007)
(to run for re-election as senator for Abia North)

Chris Ngige: Minister of Labour and Employment (2015–2019; 2019–present), former Senator for
Anambra Central (2011–2015), and former Governor of Anambra State (2003–2006)

Ken Nnamani: former Senator for Enugu East (2003–2007) and former President of the Senate (2005–
2007)

Uju Kennedy Ohanenye: lawyer

Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim: activist and businessman

Adams Oshiomhole: former Governor of Edo State (2008–2016) (to run for senator for Edo North)

Timipre Sylva: Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (2019–present) and former Governor of
Bayelsa State (2007–2008; 2008–2012)

Declined[edit]
Rauf Aregbesola: Minister of the Interior (2019–present) and former Governor of Osun State (2010–
2018)

Yakubu Dogara: House of Representatives member for Dass/Bogoro/Tafawa Balewa (2007–present) and
former Speaker of the House of Representatives (2015–2019)

Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai: Governor of Kaduna State (2015–present) and former Minister of the Federal
Capital Territory (2003–2007)

Shina Peller: House of Representatives member for Iseyin/Kajola/Iwajowa/Itesiwaju (2019–present)

Ali Modu Sheriff: Governor of Borno State (2003–2011) and former Senator for Borno Central (1999–
2003)

Babagana Umara Zulum: Governor of Borno State (2019–present)

Election administration

Primary and post-primary period

Party primaries are administered by the parties themselves but must be monitored by Independent
National Electoral Commission observers and fall inside the scheduled primary period set by INEC. The
commission released the timetable in February 2022 with a final date of 3 June 2022 for party primaries;
as this date neared, parties repeatedly asked INEC to extend the deadline by two months. After several
refusals, INEC agreed to a shorter extension of six days to 9 June but the decision proved controversial as
pundits noted that the PDP was about to hold its primary while the APC had not even screened its
candidates. Further criticism arose because INEC initially did not also extend the voter registration
deadline in kind.

After the primaries, focus shifted to voter registration and the logistical issues surrounding it. Due to
years of IPOB attacks on southeastern INEC offices, the commission's capacity in the region was low in
2022 while in Lagos, a registration drive by market traders in June 2022 that overwhelmed an INEC
centre also drew the commission's registration capability into question as the deadline neared. In the
wake of the incidents, INEC deployed extra registration machines to Lagos State, Kano State, and some
southeastern states.Around the same time, INEC hinted at a potential extension of the registration
deadline before a court ruling later in June pushed back the deadline anyway.In compliance with the
ruling, INEC set the new deadline for 31 July while simultaneously extending daily registration hours from
six to eight. Ahead of the deadline, eleven states declared public holidays for voter registration in an
attempt to increase public participation in the political process. After the deadline passed, INEC
announced that nearly 12.3 million new voters registered during the exercise. 8.75 million of the new
voters were younger than 34, a percentage noted as a potential sign of increased youth participation
ahead of the election. After the registration drive, the total registered voters number was about 96.2
million with the North-West and South-West geopolitical zones having the most voters.
As the official campaign period neared, INEC focused on direct public communication and formed the
Election Crisis Communication Team in late August. During the team inauguration, commissioner Festus
Okoye stated that the group's formation was initiated by the Centre for Democracy and Development to
combat misinformation and inform the public on key events to the public; Okoye also said that the
commission was in the process of training staff to work polling units. Focus shifted back to registration
afterwards, with INEC delisting over 1.1 million invalid registrants in mid-September. Among the final
pre-campaign period procedures was t