Nigeria election 2023: Votes are counted but final results may take days

Vote counting is underway in Nigeria’s tightest presidential election since military rule ended in 1999.

Voting was marred by long delays as polling stations failed to open on time in some areas because of logistical problems and security incidents.

Turnout appeared to be high, with many young, first-time voters arriving before dawn to cast their ballots.

The elections are the biggest democratic exercise in Africa, with 87 million people eligible to vote.

Politics has been dominated by two parties – the ruling APC and the PDP – since the restoration of multi-party democracy 24 years ago.

But this time, there is also a strong challenge from a third-party candidate in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari – the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who is backed by many young people.

Tens of thousands of polling stations are counting the results, which will be collated and sent to the electoral headquarters in the capital Abuja.

The final result is not expected until at least Tuesday.

Nigeria decides: Voting day as it happened

At a press briefing, the electoral chief, Mahmood Yakubu, apologised for the delays in voting, but he said that everyone who was in a queue by 13:30 GMT (14:30 local time) would be allowed to cast their ballots, even though polling stations were officially supposed to close by then.

Voters in the biggest city, Lagos, cheered as electoral officers arrived at a polling station in the suburb of Lekki nearly four hours after polls had officially closed.

There have also been reports of violence and ballot boxes being snatched in Lagos.

Although some voters were angry at the delays, others waited patiently to vote.

“As a Nigerian, you expect any eventuality, so I came out with my power bank and a bottle of water. I will wait till they arrive so I can vote,” first-time voter Edith told the BBC.

Mr Yakubu said that armed men had attacked some polling units in the southern state of Delta and the northern state of Katsina, where voter card verification machines were carted away.

They were subsequently replaced and security boosted to allow voting to take place, he added.

But voting was postponed to Sunday at 141 polling stations in the oil-rich southern state of Bayelsa because of disruptions.

In the north-eastern state of Borno, Mr Yakubu said that militant Islamists had opened fire on electoral officers from a mountaintop in the Gwoza area, injuring a number of officials.

The lead-up to the polls was overshadowed by a cash shortage caused by a botched attempt to redesign the currency, leading to widespread chaos at banks and cash machines as desperate people sought access to their money.

The new notes were introduced in order to tackle inflation, and also vote-buying. On the eve of the election a member of the House of Representatives was arrested with almost $500,000 (£419,000) in cash, and a list of people he was supposed to give it to, police say.

Whoever wins will have to deal with the currency redesign, a crumbling economy, high youth unemployment, and widespread insecurity which saw 10,000 killed last year.

Voters also cast their ballots for 109 federal senators and 360 members of the house of representatives, with another vote for state governors in March.

The election has seen a huge interest from young people – a third of eligible voters are below 35.

Mr Obi, 61, is hoping to break up Nigeria’s two-party system after joining the Labour Party last May.

Although he was in the PDP before then, he is seen as a relatively fresh face and enjoys fervent support among some sections of Nigeria’s youth, especially in the south.

The wealthy businessman served as governor of the south-eastern Anambra State from 2006 to 2014. His backers, known as the “OBIdients”, say he is the only candidate with integrity, but his critics argue that a vote for him is wasted as he is unlikely to win.

He has run for the presidency five times before – all of which he has lost. He has been dogged by accusations of corruption and cronyism, which he denies.

Most of his career has been spent in the corridors of power, having worked as a top civil servant, vice president and a prominent businessman.

Most people consider the election a referendum on the APC, which has overseen a period of economic hardship and worsening insecurity.

He is known as a political godfather in the southwest region, where he wields huge influence, but like Mr Abubakar, has also been dogged by allegations of corruption over the years and poor health, both of which he denies.

A candidate needs to have the most votes and 25% of ballots cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states to be declared the winner.

Otherwise, there will be a run-off within 21 days – a first in Nigeria’s history.

Who is Peter Obi?

A wealthy businessman with a reputation for being frugal, Peter Obi has emerged as a powerful force ahead of February Nigeria’s presidential election, energising voters with messages of prudence and accountability that are amplified by an army of social media users.

In a country that seems to always be on the lookout for a messiah to solve its myriad problems, young social media-savvy supporters have elevated Mr Obi to sainthood and are backing his largely unknown Labour Party against two septuagenarian political heavyweights.

The way he has attracted supporters seems to border on populism – a tag he and his supporters would denounce, but some of his rhetoric might be encouraging that.

“It’s time to take your country back,” he often says.

“[This election] is the old against the new,” he told the BBC.

His name is often trending on social media on the back of numerous conversations sparked by his supporters, instantly recognisable from their display picture of his image or the white, red and green logo of his party.

These are mostly urban under-30s who refer to themselves as the “Coconut-head generation”, because they are strong-willed, independent-minded and contemptuous of older politicians who, they say, have done little for them.

Many of them, like Dayo Ekundayo from the eastern city of Owerri, was involved in the EndSars protests that forced the disbandment of a notorious police department two years ago and also morphed into calls for better government.

Now, they are deploying the same strategies that mobilised hundreds of thousands of young Nigerians and raised millions of naira within weeks for the 61-year-old who they consider an alternative to the two parties that have dominated politics since the end of military rule in 1999.

“Which Nigerian politician has ever held office and has his integrity intact? I do not see any other logical option for young people in Nigeria,” said Mr Ekundayo.

He has already been involved in a march for Mr Obi and is providing logistics and mobilising students for the campaign as he did during the EndSars protests.

But opponents say Mr Obi is a political impostor, one of many who spring up at election time with delusions of being a third force that will wrestle power from the traditional parties.

Many supporters of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and neutral observers agree he is head and shoulders above the other candidates, but say he lacks the nationwide popularity to win the election and have warned his supporters that they risk wasting their votes.

They believe he is a distraction from the common goal of removing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from office and could split the opposition vote.

A devout Catholic from eastern Nigeria, they point to his lack of popularity in the Muslim-dominated north, whose votes are considered critical in winning presidential elections.

But Mr Obi and his running-mate Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed have had strong showings at party rallies in the north, attracting large crowds in states where the popularity of the Labour Party was doubted – although such crowds can be hired by politicians.

His critics also question whether he truly represents a break from the corruption he routinely lambasts, pointing out that his name popped up in the leaked Pandora Papers which exposed the hidden wealth of the rich and powerful in 2021.

While he was not accused of stealing money, he failed to declare offshore accounts and assets held by family members, citing ignorance.

He was also accused of investing state funds, as governor, into a company he had dealings with. He denied any wrongdoing and points out that the value of the investment has since grown.

Mr Obi repeatedly says he is not desperate to be president, which is ironic for a man who has changed parties four times since 2002.

He dumped the PDP just days before its presidential primary in May and the party went on to choose the 75-year-old former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as its presidential flagbearer.

Critics say he pulled out of the contest because he knew his chances of winning were slim but he cited wrangling within the PDP, where he was a vice-presidential candidate in 2019, for deciding to cross over to the Labour Party.

His supporters are also convinced that he was pushed out of the PDP because he refused to bribe delegates at the party primary and have coined the phrase: “We don’t give shishi (money)” as a buzzword for his famed frugality and his prudence in managing government funds in a country with a history of wasteful expenditure by public officers.

They regard him as an unconventional politician prepared to take on the APC and PDP behemoths seen as different sides of the same coin, who they accuse of dipping their fingers into the public purse.

There is also a religious and ethnic twist to his candidacy.

In a country where roughly half the population is Christian, his supporters hope that this will bolster his chances of winning, as after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari they would not want another Muslim – the APC’s Bola Tinubu, 70, or the PDP’s Mr Abubakar – to take office.

And while he has downplayed his religion, Mr Obi has become a constant face at the large auditoriums of Nigeria’s Pentecostal churches, to rapturous receptions, and he has also singled out Christian communities in the north for visits.

This has drawn criticism from opponents who accuse him of bigotry and trying to create divisions through religion, accusations he has denied.

Some also support Mr Obi because of his ethnic background. Igbos make up the country’s third largest ethnic group, but Nigeria has had only one Igbo president, largely ceremonial since it freed itself from British colonial rule in 1960.

Many Igbos accuse successive Nigerian governments of marginalising them and hope that Mr Obi will rise to power so that the south-east, where most of them live, would see greater development and so counter the pull of secession groups like the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob).

Critics say he is a supporter of Ipob, a group designated as a terror organisation by Nigeria, but he told the BBC that he is a firm believer in Nigeria and that his position on the different “agitations across the country” is to dialogue and reach a consensus.

He said Nigeria’s number one priority is the issue of insecurity because it has become an existential one “that must be dealt head-on decisively”.

“If you deal with it [security] today, you deal with inflation because farmers would go back to farms and that would reduce food inflation,” he said.

A philosophy graduate, he worked in his family’s retail businesses before going on to make his own money, importing everything from salad cream to beauty products, and baked beans to champagne, while also owning a brewery and holding major shares in three commercial banks.

You can normally recognise a Nigerian billionaire from a mile off but Mr Obi is thrifty and wears it as a mark of pride.

He is quick to point out that he owns just two pairs of black shoes from midmarket British chain Marks and Spencer, prefers a $200 suit from Stein Mart to a $4,000 Tom Ford suit, and always insists on carrying his own luggage, rather than paying someone else to do it for him.

Even his children are not spared his frugality. His 30-year-old son was denied a car, he said, while his other child is a happy primary school teacher – a rarity in a country where a politician’s name often opens doors to more lucrative jobs.

The OBIdients

Despite the financial controversy, his tenure as governor of Anambra state has become a reference point for his presidential campaign.

His supporters point out that he invested heavily in education and paid salaries on time – the simple things that most Nigerian state governors tend to neglect.

He also left huge savings in state coffers at the end of his two four-year tenures, another rarity.

But Frances Ogbonnaya, a university student in Anambra state when Mr Obi was governor, is surprised by the praises being sung in his name, describing his tenure as unremarkable.

“Who saves money in the face of hunger? Who saves money in the face of a lack of facilities?” she asked rhetorically.

But it is his reputation for frugality and sound management that has attracted a horde of supporters, known as OBIdients.

Some have been accused of cyberbullying and labelling anyone who does not vote for him in next year’s election an enemy of the state.

He responded with a tweet calling on his supporters to “imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship”, but it has done little to calm them down.

They are quick to remind anyone who tells them that elections aren’t won on Twitter, that data from the electoral body shows a jump in newly registered voters, most of them young people.

But this is not the same as actually turning out to vote on election day.

With weeks to the election, there is no denying the momentum behind Mr Obi but cynics also point to the lack of a nationwide party structure to support the view that, while possible, an Obi presidency remains highly improbable.

“The structure that has kept us where we are, the structure that has produced the highest number of people in poverty in any country, the structure that has produced the highest number of out-of-school children, that is the structure we want to remove,” he said.

He retorted that his structure is “the 100 million Nigerians that live in poverty [and] the 35 million Nigerians who don’t know where their next meal will come from”.

If half of those turn out to vote for him on election day, it might very well be all that he needs.

Who is Atiku Abubakar?

Atiku Abubakar is hoping it will be sixth-time lucky in his quest to be Nigeria’s next president but has fallen short on five previous attempts, the first in 1992.

The 76-year-old has circled the summits of public life for most of his career as a top civil servant, a vice president, and a prominent businessman, making his fortune in the oil sector.

But the highest office in the land has eluded him, and in February 2023 he goes again, offering his credentials as a seasoned political operator and serial entrepreneur as the remedy for Nigeria’s ills.

Africa’s most populous country is facing soaring unemployment, widespread insecurity, high inflation, and a sluggish economy heavily dependent on fluctuating oil revenues.

Mr Abubakar’s campaign is built on his success as vice president between 1999 and 2007, where as head of the government’s economic team he oversaw successful reforms in the telecommunications, pensions and banking sectors that led to jobs and GDP growth.

However, his critics point to accusations of financial impropriety against him which they say make him unsuitable for the top office in a country where corruption is a huge challenge.

He is accused of cronyism, especially when he oversaw the privatization of key government assets. He denies any wrongdoing and says the charges are politically motivated.

Mr Abubakar will be hoping to unite the fractured opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where cracks have emerged since his victory at the primary in June.

Some influential southern governors begrudge his emergence, saying it was the turn of the south to produce Nigeria’s next president after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner like Mr Abubakar.

His choice of a running mate has also stirred an open rebellion within the party, with many believing that the snub of the highly influential governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike, might prove costly.

A popular figure within the party, Mr Wike was considered the overwhelming favourite, having lost out in the presidential primary, but Mr Abubakar instead chose Delta state governor Ifeanyi Okowa.

Outside his party, Mr Abubakar faces a formidable opponent in Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and a bourgeoning youth-driven campaign led by the Labour Party’s Peter Obi who is targeting votes in traditional PDP areas in southern Nigeria.

There is also the challenge of convincing young Nigerians that he is a suitable choice, given his age, and that he is a break from the political class many have lost confidence in.

An affable, enterprising figure, Mr Abubakar moves adroitly between the worlds of commerce and politics – qualities that, his supporters say, will help him unite the country and revive the economy.

He has been involved in Nigerian elections for decades and has recently fluctuated between the two dominant parties, the APC and PDP – where he was a founding member, seeking a shot at the presidency.

His first exit from the PDP, in 2006, coincided with an investigation into his record as vice-president, when he was accused of diverting $125m (£95m) worth of public funds towards his business interests.

Similar charges appeared in a 2010 US Senate report, which accused Mr Abubakar of having transferred $40m (£30.55m) of “suspect funds” to the US, using his American wife’s bank account.

The charges have never been tried in court, and Mr Abubakar has rejected the allegations of corruption as politically motivated. In January 2019, he visited Washington DC, ending speculation that he was avoiding travel to the US because he might face arrest there.

He appeals to voters who want a revival of the economy and national unity, after seeing Mr Buhari administer a period of economic stagnation and accusations of ethnicity in political appointments.

Mr Abubakar’s reputation in business is linked to the spectacular rise of Intels, the oilfield logistics firm that he co-founded in 1982. From its original office in a shipping container, the company has grown into a multi-national, multi-billion naira operation, employing more than 10,000 people.

He has diverted part of his wealth to charitable causes, most notably establishing the prestigious American University in Adamawa state, northern Nigeria. The university has offered scholarships to some of the “Chibok girls” – survivors of a high-profile kidnapping by Islamist Boko Haram militants.

Mr Abubakar regards himself as a lucky beneficiary of the Western-style education offered at the university and is fiercely opposed by Boko Haram. He was born in Adamawa to a devout Muslim family, and his father, a Fulani tradesman and herder, was briefly jailed for preventing him from attending school.

“Father was responding typically with fear and anxiety to the onslaught of change in Nigeria,” Mr Abubakar wrote sympathetically in his autobiography.

After finishing his studies, he joined the customs service, serving at Lagos port and airport. “Corruption was rife in Customs but I was not part of it,” he wrote. “I saw Customs… as a way of making money for the government.”

While still a civil servant, Mr Abubakar began buying property and farmland for commercial purposes, eventually moving into the emerging market for oil and gas services. “I recognised very early in life that I have a good nose for business,” he wrote in a chapter of his autobiography entitled, Making Money.

His career in customs brought him into contact with the military and political elite, two categories that have been interchangeable for much of Nigeria’s recent history. Mr Abubakar grew close to the former army major, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, regarding him as a political mentor.

While Nigeria was still under military rule, the two men began networking with other regional leaders, hoping to form a credible government-in-waiting.

In 1989, Mr Abubakar quit the civil service to dedicate himself to politics. He made his first presidential run in 1992, as a candidate for the faction that had gathered around Shehu Yar’Adua. He stepped down after coming third in the first round, and the election itself was later cancelled by the military government.

The repression intensified in the 1990s under the dictatorship of Gen Sani Abacha. Mr Abubakar was briefly exiled in London, while his mentor, Shehu Yar’Adua, was sent to prison, where he eventually died.

Mr Abubakar returned to Nigeria in 1997 as Gen Abacha relaxed his grip on power. He became vice-president after the elections in 1999 installed the PDP candidate, Olusegun Obasanjo, in the presidency.

During two terms in office, he oversaw a series of privatisations, earning praise as a liberaliser in some quarters, and criticism elsewhere as a crony capitalist.

In his autobiography, he took credit for reforming the banking sector, the auction of mobile phone licences, as well as for an economic boom that enabled Nigeria to pay off much of its debt.

Mr Abubakar, from north-eastern Adamawa state, says he will bring back the good times if elected president in 2023.

He has four wives and 28 children.

Who is Bola Tinubu?

Bola Tinubu, 70, widely credited with reshaping Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, will lead the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) into February’s presidential election but he faces a reinvigorated opposition, allegations of corruption, and health issues as he eyes one of Africa’s most daunting jobs.

Once forced into exile by military ruler Sani Abacha, Mr Tinubu knows the value of freedom and wears it as an insignia on his signature hat – a broken shackle that looks like a horizontal figure of eight.

A trained accountant, it was the activities of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition (Nadeco) group, where he was a member, that brought him into Abacha’s crosshairs.

The opposition of groups like Nadeco, and Abacha’s death in 1998, ushered in Nigeria’s democracy in 1999 and in many ways, Mr Tinubu, a former Mobil oil executive, feels entitled to Nigeria’s presidency.

He will be banking on his experience in politics and huge influence across the country to win the election, where he will face stiff competition from former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, who is standing for the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and a burgeoning campaign by the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who is hugely popular with urban voters.

If Mr Tinubu, known as “Jagaban” by supporters, gets the top job, he would be looking to unify a country divided across regional lines, tackle widespread insecurity, create jobs and bring down rising inflation.

But it is not a job that fazes him. He has pointed to his time as Lagos state governor between 1999 and 2007 to sell his candidacy to Nigerians.

Under his tenure, Lagos massively grew its income through huge foreign investment, while a public transport scheme that saw new lanes created for rapid buses eased the notorious traffic jams faced daily by commuters.

But the city of around 25 million people has not lived up to its reputation as a megacity despite his claims of turning it around.

Public infrastructure is largely in a state of disrepair – basic amenities such as water and public housing are decrepit, while a light rail project started during his reign has not been completed almost 20 years later despite the riches of the state.

He has also been accused of keeping a grip on state finances despite leaving office in 2007.

Every governor that has succeeded him has been a protégé following a “grand roadmap”, while one that dared to find his own path was quickly brought to heel, aided by powerful transport union members.

There are also allegations of corruption against Mr Tinubu, which he denies.

Two years ago, Dapo Apara, an accountant at Alpha-beta, a firm where Mr Tinubu purportedly holds stakes through a crony, accused him of using the firm for money laundering, fraud, tax evasion and other corrupt practices.

Mr Tinubu was sued despite him and Alpha-beta denying the allegations but all parties decided to settle out of court last June.

Such allegations, including twice facing Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on allegations of breaching the code of public officers – where he was cleared – make opponents say Mr Tinubu is not the right man for the job in a country where corruption is high.

In the last election, a brazen display of an armoured van used by banks to move money driving into his palatial compound in the Ikoyi area of Lagos fuelled suspicions that he was involved in vote-buying, which he made no great effort to deny.

“If I have money, if I like, I give it to the people free of charge, as long as [it’s] not to buy votes,” he said.

He is one of Nigeria’s richest politicians but there are questions about his wealth.

In December, he told the BBC that he inherited some real estate which he then invested, but in the past, he also said he became an “instant millionaire” while working as an auditor at Deloitte and Touche.

He said he had saved $1.8m (£1.5m) from his wages and other allowances, nearly the same amount found in accounts linked to him in a 1993 dispute with the US authorities.

In documents that are publicly available, the US Department of Justice alleged that from early 1988, accounts opened in the name of Bola Tinubu held the proceeds of sales of white heroin.

Kevin Moss, the special agent that investigated the operation, alleged that Mr Tinubu worked for their prime suspect Adegoboyega Akande.

While the court confirmed it had cause to believe the money in the bank accounts were the proceeds of drug trafficking, Mr Tinubu and the others denied the allegations, and the court never made a final order about the money’s origins.

Instead, Mr Tinubu, who was not personally charged over the money, reached a compromise settlement with authorities and forfeited $460,000.

Mr Tinubu also faces questions about his health, once posting an eight-second video of him riding an exercise bike as proof of life.

Opponents say his age is catching up with him and point to videos of various gaffes at campaign rallies where it can be hard to understand what he’s saying.

Many Nigerians are wary of another president with health issues after President Umaru Yar’Adua died in office in 2010 and a current president who has spent considerable time getting medical treatment abroad.

But his supporters say he has the stamina for the job and is not competing for a spot at the Olympics.

There has also been some controversy about his choice of a running mate.

Mr Tinubu, a southern Muslim, picked former Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, a northern Muslim, as his vice.

This move was seen as appeasing Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north which has the largest voting bloc in the country.

However, it drew the ire of many Christians who say it went against the tradition of mixed-faith tickets for the presidency.

He defended his choice, saying he went for competence over primordial interests.

He is seen as the political godfather of the southwest region and its most influential figure, who decides how power is distributed among his many acolytes.

In 2015 he described describes himself as a “talent hunter” that puts “talents into office”.

His immense political influence led to the merger of opposition parties in 2013 and eventually wrestled power from the then-ruling PDP in 2015 – a rarity in Nigeria where incumbents are not often defeated.

During his party primary, when it looked as though Mr Tinubu’s aspirations were flagging, he reminded Nigerians that he was largely responsible for installing President Muhammadu Buhari after the former military ruler had failed on several occasions to win the presidency.

Mr Buhari’s associates have since tried to downplay the former governor’s influence in the 2015 election, but it is unlikely that the current president would have emerged, twice, without the backing of Mr Tinubu.

That is why his supporters saw it as a betrayal when Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, who worked with Mr Tinubu as a commissioner in Lagos, ran against his former boss for the APC ticket.

If he wins February’s election, which is likely to be tightly contested, he will have to tackle many issues left behind by Mr Buhari – widespread insecurity, high unemployment, rising inflation and a country divided along ethnic lines.

It is not an impossible job, but the task ahead is daunting.