Who Will Emerge as Nigeria's Next President?
Nigeria's most contested presidential election in 24 years is near. And with a record 93.4 million Nigerians registered to vote, including more than 10 million new voters, mostly young people. Observers say the dynamics of this race may be different than any election before. They predict Peter Aobi will benefit most from the new voters. Experts say he's a formidable third party force in a country where presidential elections have traditionally been a contest between the two main parties. This man has what I call a clean slate.
He said if you have any accusation, bring it up. Let me see. And two to day, nine months ago, he said that two to day, nobody has got any accusation. So yeah, that's why I am voting for Peter Aobi. Aobi promises economic reforms and prudent government spending, but he's competing against the established giants of Nigeria's politics. Bola Ammettinubu of the ruling APC party, known as a political kingmaker, promises he will fight insecurity and continue the policies of outgoing President Mohamed Abu Hari. There's also the major opposition people's Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abu Bakar, who's a former vice president.
His supporters say his experience makes him the best choice. Nigeria has been struggling to control widespread insecurity and prevent its economy from nose diving. But experts say those are not the only factors influencing votes this time. The combination of the first scarcity for an oil producing nation like Nigeria and the scarcity of Naira is now redefined. The whole electoral system is redefined. Even now people will likely to vote and what we expect to see on election day in a closely contested elections, when little things will actually matter. The central bank is implementing a currency reform that has led to scarcity of hard cash.
Many of the candidates have called for the CBN to extend its deadline on the currency transition, but the central bank backed by the president has refused. Just about three days ago, chaos about this cash issue led to violence in my area, and two people were killed. This bruise on my nose was from that day. In the run up to the vote, however, election workers have come under attack in several areas. As millions head to the polls, the race concerned about possible violence. Timothy Obiezon for Vio Inus, Abuja, Nigeria.
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