Nigeria: Muhammadu Buhari candidate for a second term

The February 2019 presidential elections in Nigeria will see current President Muhammadu Buhari as a candidate for another term. The announcement was made by the presidential office on Monday 09 April.

Just under a year from the Nigerian presidential elections scheduled for February 2019, a country scent is already hovering over the most populous country in Africa. Primaries will be held at the end of the year. Some “small parties” presented their candidates in March. The capital Abuja is alive with committed political summits.

On Monday, April 9, at a meeting of the national executive committee of his party in Abuja, incumbent President Muhamadu Buhari announced his intention to seek the nomination of his party, the APC, but the opposition did not wait for that to already organize.

Before the official announcement, it was Nasir El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna, one of the main allies of the Nigerian head of state who made the announcement in a post on Twitter that same Monday.

Treated by some of the dictators, and admired by others, Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled a candidacy that has for some time been controversial on the Nigerian political scene.

Earlier this year, former President Olusegun Obasanjo criticized the current president for his achievements since taking office in 2015, “poverty, insecurity, economic mismanagement, nepotism…”, Olusegun Obasanjo said.

The criticism of the Nigerian head of state in recent days has not prevented him from running for a second term.

While he promised to eradicate the Islamist sect Boko Haram during his 2015 campaign, many Nigerians question Muhammadu Buhari’s ability to lead Nigeria. These medical stays do not plead in his favor either.