Nigeria Braces for Climax of Rancorous Presidential Showdown Vote on Saturday pits challenger seeking economic shake-up against incumbent focused on security and corruption By Joe Parkinson and Gbenga Akingbule
https://www.wsj.com/articles/nigeria-braces-for-outcome-of-rancorous-presidential-showdown-11550226600
KADUNA, Nigeria—The largest election in Africa’s history is already shaping up to be one of its more volatile.
Some 84 million people are registered to vote on Saturday in a presidential race that will determine who controls Africa’s largest economy, top oil producer and an important U.S. counterterrorism ally.
The winner, in a bout between two heavyweights with a decadeslong history in a patronage-based political system, will face sluggish economic growth, entrenched corruption and a dizzying array of security threats.
In one corner is President Muhammadu Buhari, the former military junta leader who returned to power in 2015 elections on a promise to defeat Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency and quell rampant corruption.
In the other, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and businessman whose dominance of the logistics sector brought him wealth and decades of graft allegations, is pledging to reinvigorate the country’s moribund economy.
Polls show a race that is too close to call, with Mr. Buhari as the favorite, armed with the advantages of incumbency and a broader base among the more populous Muslim north.
Nigeria’s first peaceful transition from one democratically elected government to another, in 2015, was seen as a milestone that strengthened pro-democracy forces across a continent studded with entrenched autocrats.
But in 2019, officials from the U.S. and European Union have expressed concern that the closeness of the race will encourage vote rigging and the mobilization of thugs and security forces to intimidate voters.
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