Nigeria election ruling may increase voter apathy
Alexis’s view Nigeria’s Federal High Court invalidating the election candidacy of President Bola Tinubu’s leading challenger was unexpected — but not entirely surprising.
Key points
- And Nigeria’s central bank wreaked havoc four years ago when it issued new bank notes in a move widely seen as an attempt to disadvantage some politicians and favor others.
- Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, runner-up in the last election, has fewer than 100 days to secure a reversal on appeal ahead of the January vote.
- Tinubu won in 2023 with just 27% voter turnout — the lowest since the return to civilian rule in 1999.
The smart money is on the ruling against Atiku being overturned before the election.
Any sense that courts, rather than the ballot box, will sway the election could dampen interest further, handing the victor an even slimmer mandate to govern Africa’s most populous country.
Additional details
- The ruling is consistent with a recent pattern of late interventions ahead of Nigerian elections.
- In 2019, the country’s then most senior judge was suspended weeks before the vote, prompting speculation that he was dismissed because he couldn’t be relied upon to back the incumbent if courts weighed in on a close result.
- But the failure of the opposition to unify behind a single candidate has weakened the challenge to Tinubu, despite widespread anger over the rising cost of living, which many blame on the president’s removal of the country’s fuel subsidy.
- Notable South Africa’s biggest party, the ANC, faced intense campaigns ahead of the local elections, which involved politicians spinning cars, watching grannies knit and wading through giant-sized potholes.
- The danger for Tinubu is that suspicion that the judiciary undermined a rival — one who vowed to restore the fuel subsidy — turns Atiku into a lightning rod for public frustration.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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