With the sudden, last-minute postponement of Nigeria’s election to Saturday, the opportunities for electoral skulduggery have only grown.
Africa’s largest economy has a long history of poll violence, as it swung between democratic and military rule after independence from Britain in 1960. But this election, between the frail incumbent, Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling APC party, and the PDP’s billionaire former vice president Atiku Abubakar, could represent the second democratic transition of power in the country’s history. And for the first time, a generation of young Nigerians who have known only democracy will cast their votes.
Since both candidates are Muslims from the north, few expect the religious and communal violence that has killed hundreds in previous elections. But with the election too close to call, and both parties pursuing victory at all costs, reports of shady election tactics abound.
Nigerian political candidates have long used food, clothing and even cash handouts to win votes, but the problem has grown in recent years.
“Vote buying became more prominent last year during the Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections,” said Leye Komolafe, an election observer in south-western Oyo state. “Having tested it there, politicians are now aware that it works.”
He added: “Unlike in previous elections, political parties are not spending as much as they did during campaigning. This could suggest they are waiting to buy votes.”
Unconfirmed rumours abound that voter cards are being purchased by parties in the Muslim majority north – the primary battleground in this election, given the two candidates’ backgrounds – for as much as 30,000 naira ($83).
For the 87 million Nigerians – or half the population – living on less than $1.90 a day, that would constitute a small fortune.
Mr Komolafe said he expected to observe voter fraud on election day, including people using other voters' identification.
Goods including hats, rice and chilli powder bearing the faces of senate candidates and party logos have been distributed to voters nationwide.
Vote buying will likely be most evident on election day. "In the end, the vote will come down to which candidate is able to mobilise their supporters on the day," Ed Hobey-Hamsher, an analyst at risk consultancy firm Verisk Maplecroft, told The National.
A sophisticated social media campaign is being waged to swing young voters. Late last year, Attahiru Jega, the former chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), warned of the rising threat of fake news and called for stiffer laws against disinformation on social media.
Scores of young men and women have reportedly been employed to create fake Twitter accounts promoting party agendas. In the post-election period, they could be used to amplify the unverified election results that are typically disseminated by political parties to declare victory.
Other tactics being employed are decidedly more low-tech. A fortnight ago, an INEC office in central Plateau state was torched, destroying nearly 6,000 voter cards.
The election is fought on two key issues: security and the economy.
Nigeria might be the continent’s largest economy, biggest oil producer and most populous nation, but its growth has been sluggish, due to corruption, insecurity and Mr Buhari’s ill-judged foreign exchange policies.
Inequality is rife: as the wealthy swan around waterside Lagos, most Nigerians are struggling to get by. Unemployment is high, while more people live in extreme poverty in Nigeria than anywhere else on earth.
On the security front, the country is facing a series of violent insurgencies. Extremist Islamist group Boko Haram’s insurgency in Nigeria’s troubled north has killed as many as 20,000 people since 2009 and sent thousands fleeing to neighbouring Cameroon.
Meanwhile an affiliate group, Islamic State West Africa province, has grown in both stature and brutality, briefly seizing the small town of Baga in late December.
An equally violent – albeit less notorious – episode is ongoing in Nigeria’s agricultural middle belt, where resource scarcity has fuelled clashes between mostly Christian farmers and nomadic Fulani herdsmen. It is a sensitive issue for Mr Buhari, himself a Fulani Muslim, who has been accused of not doing enough to stop the violence, which killed some 1,300 people in the first half of 2018, six times more than Boko Haram.
In the south, oil militants carry out attacks, while a secessionist movement in the Niger Delta rumbles on. Across the country, bandits and kidnappers operate with abandon.
Although there are 73 presidential candidates, bringing security and prosperity to Nigeria will fall to either the ailing Mr Buhari, a former military ruler during the 1980s who has spent months of his first term on medical leave in London, or the comparatively spritely Mr Abubakar, 72, who faces accusations of corruption and has contested three previous elections.
In December, Mr Buhari was forced to publicly deny rumours he had died and been replaced by a Sudanese imposter.
Since both men are political insiders, they have struggled to campaign on a platform of change. And with Mr Abubakar emerging as a slight favourite, international observers are concerned that whoever loses will challenge the result in court – or worse, incite violence among their supporters.
Three weeks prior to the election, Mr Buhari suspended the country’s chief justice – who would have ruled on an election challenge – pending corruption charges.
“Mr Buhari has never been a full-convert to democratic norms, preferring the autocratic leadership style that he enjoyed as military head of state,” said Mr Hobey-Hamsher. “There is a high risk he will not accept defeat if it comes.”
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The years Ramadan fell in May
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Key fixtures from January 5-7
Watford v Bristol City
Liverpool v Everton
Brighton v Crystal Palace
Bournemouth v AFC Fylde or Wigan
Coventry v Stoke City
Nottingham Forest v Arsenal
Manchester United v Derby
Forest Green or Exeter v West Brom
Tottenham v AFC Wimbledon
Fleetwood or Hereford v Leicester City
Manchester City v Burnley
Shrewsbury v West Ham United
Wolves v Swansea City
Newcastle United v Luton Town
Fulham v Southampton
Norwich City v Chelsea
PULITZER PRIZE 2020 WINNERS
JOURNALISM
Public Service
Anchorage Daily News in collaboration with ProPublica
Breaking News Reporting
Staff of The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.
Investigative Reporting
Brian M. Rosenthal of The New York Times
Explanatory Reporting
Staff of The Washington Post
Local Reporting
Staff of The Baltimore Sun
National Reporting
T. Christian Miller, Megan Rose and Robert Faturechi of ProPublica
and
Dominic Gates, Steve Miletich, Mike Baker and Lewis Kamb of The Seattle Times
International Reporting
Staff of The New York Times
Feature Writing
Ben Taub of The New Yorker
Commentary
Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times
Criticism
Christopher Knight of the Los Angeles Times
Editorial Writing
Jeffery Gerritt of the Palestine (Tx.) Herald-Press
Editorial Cartooning
Barry Blitt, contributor, The New Yorker
Breaking News Photography
Photography Staff of Reuters
Feature Photography
Channi Anand, Mukhtar Khan and Dar Yasin of the Associated Press
Audio Reporting
Staff of This American Life with Molly O’Toole of the Los Angeles Times and Emily Green, freelancer, Vice News for “The Out Crowd”
LETTERS AND DRAMA
Fiction
"The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead (Doubleday)
Drama
"A Strange Loop" by Michael R. Jackson
History
"Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America" by W. Caleb McDaniel (Oxford University Press)
Biography
"Sontag: Her Life and Work" by Benjamin Moser (Ecco/HarperCollins)
Poetry
"The Tradition" by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
General Nonfiction
"The Undying: Pain, Vulnerability, Mortality, Medicine, Art, Time, Dreams, Data, Exhaustion, Cancer, and Care" by Anne Boyer (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
and
"The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America" by Greg Grandin (Metropolitan Books)
Music
"The Central Park Five" by Anthony Davis, premiered by Long Beach Opera on June 15, 2019
Special Citation
Ida B. Wells
Company profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Drishyam 2
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Murali Gopy
Rating: 4 stars
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
Stars: 3
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE%20FIXTURES
%3Cp%3EWednesday%2019%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Kuwait%3Cbr%3EFriday%2021%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Hong%20Kong%3Cbr%3ESunday%2023%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Singapore%3Cbr%3EWednesday%2026%20April%20%E2%80%93%20UAE%20v%20Bahrain%3Cbr%3ESaturday%2029%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Semi-finals%3Cbr%3ESunday%2030%20April%20%E2%80%93%20Third%20position%20match%3Cbr%3EMonday%201%20May%20%E2%80%93%20Final%3C%2Fp%3E%0A