Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari wins second term in vote marred by delays and violence
- Buhari, a former army general, is known for being disciplined and incorruptible, a rare track record in Nigerian politics
- The opposition slammed the results as rigged, even before results from all 36 states were announced
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has won a second term, according to final results published by the Independent National Electoral Commission, in a vote that was marred by large-scale violence and delays.
Before the results were announced late Tuesday, the spokesman for the main opposition claimed to have evidence the vote was rigged.
Buhari, 76, is a former military general who briefly held power in 1984 and 1985 after a coup. He is seen by his supporters as relatively untainted by the corruption that plagues politics in Africa’s most populous nation.
A sluggish economy recovered slightly during his first term, but almost a quarter of the workforce remains unemployed and about half of the population lives on less than US$2 a day.
Buhari has been lauded for his progress against the decade-old Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, which has killed more than 10,000 and displaced millions, but 2018 brought a return to levels of violence not seen in years.
His main challenger was Atiku Abubakar, a business tycoon and former vice-president. Abubakar’s party called for reruns of the polls in four states and said it would challenge the election commission’s numbers in court.