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☆ Nigerians vote for new president, delays seen at some polling stations
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Anamasere Igboereteonwu | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/8] People looks for their names on voters list put up on a wall at a polling unit, during Nigeria's Presidential election in Agulu, Anambra state, Nigeria February 25, 2023. Polling stations were scheduled to open at 8:30 a.m. (0730 GMT), though Reuters reporters at locations across the country saw a mixed picture, with delays of several hours in some places while voting got underway more swiftly at others. In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, the vice presidential candidate from the ruling party, Kashim Shettima, arrived to cast his ballot but was unable to do so as his designated polling station had not opened. In another northeastern city, Yola, opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was able to vote, surrounded by a chaotic scrum of media and supporters. Vote-counting will begin as soon as polls close and results will be posted outside polling stations, according to the Independent National Election Commission (INEC).

☆ 'Unpredictable' election in Africa's largest economy is set to resonate around the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

After 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since ending military dictatorship in 1999, Africa's most populous nation and largest economy is conducting its seventh election. Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's president, speaks during the U.S.-Africa Business Forum in New York. Leena Koni Hoffmann, associate fellow of the Africa Programme at Chatham House, told CNBC on Monday that the presidential election will be the "most unpredictable" since the transition to civilian rule. Alongside the Covid-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, Koni Hoffmann noted "missed opportunities" and "self-inflicted crises" under Buhari's regime. Economists panned the decision, which Koni Hoffmann suggested rendered Nigeria and its neighbors more vulnerable to the damage of the pandemic.

[1/6] Godwin Nnamdi, 27-year-old fitness trainer and first-time voter, poses for a portrait at a gym in Lagos, Nigeria February 15, 2023. But his active social media campaign and promises to break with Nigeria's gerontocratic past have endeared him to many younger voters. The young and tech-savvy, first-time voters rallying around Obi call themselves the "Obi-dients" - a somewhat incongruous choice for an anti-establishment movement. The former banker has promised jobs, skills training and funding to young Nigerians, but so too have Tinubu and Atiku. If Obi loses, Ndukwe said he would join the wave of skilled Nigerians leaving the country in its perpetual brain drain.

☆ Explainer: What is at stake for investors in Nigeria's election?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Rachel Savage | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Multiple exchange rates, widespread insecurity and low oil production due to massive crude theft are all problems that worry investors. Another focus is soaring fuel subsidy costs that devour government revenues and drive up debt. "No investor's going to want to buy into a market where you can't sell stock and get your money out," he said. Foreign investors held 16% of shares on Nigeria's stock exchange last year, sharply down from 58% in 2014, Nigerian Exchange Group data showed. Many investors, however, were cautiously optimistic that Nigeria would see improvements, whoever wins on Feb. 25.

☆ Opposition supporters attacked in Nigeria ahead of rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LAGOS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Nigerian presidential contender Peter Obi of the opposition Labour Party said his supporters were on Saturday attacked and injured ahead of a rally in the commercial capital Lagos, a stronghold of the ruling party. Previous elections in Africa's most populous nation have been fraught with violence between supporters of rival parties and a number of instances of political violence have occurred ahead of the Feb. 25 parliamentary and presidential vote. "We cannot continue to tolerate attacks on members of the political opposition, often fuelled by the incendiary rhetoric of political leaders," Obi said in a statement, urging police to investigate. At the rally, Obi told supporters he would reform the police to make it more professional, end the oil thefts that have hobbled production in the Niger Delta, and improve security to allow farmers to boost agriculture output. Obi will face Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos and the ruling All Progressives Congress candidate, and former vice president Atiku Abubakar from the main opposition People's Democratic Party.

☆ Factbox: Nigeria election 2023: what you need to know and what's at stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is what you need to know about the election. Tinubu and Atiku have significant powerbases across Nigeria, while Obi is banking on frustration over the economy and insecurity to turn voters against the two major parties. Obi, who left the PDP last year and was Atiku's running mate in 2019, casts himself as a reformist willing to overhaul Nigeria's political system. But on policy, there is little separating the main candidates. Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia Chege, Gareth Jones and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nigeria's central bank extends deadline to turn in old naira notes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ABUJA, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Nigeria's central bank will extend by 10 days a deadline for swapping old naira currency notes, it said in a statement on Sunday. Nigerians will now have until Feb. 10 to turn in 1,000 ($2.17), 500 and 200 naira notes. The central bank (CBN) started releasing newly designed notes last month but many say they cannot find them at banks or cash machines. Nigerian legislators and opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar had called on the central bank to extend the Jan 31 deadline. About 1.3 trillion naira in old notes has been deposited into the bank since the announcement in October, the bank has said.

☆ Nigeria's Atiku joins calls to extend deadline on old banknotes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LAGOS, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Nigerian opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar urged the central bank on Saturday to extend a Jan. 31 deadline to phase out old high-value banknotes, a measure many Nigerians fear will disrupt business in the cash-reliant economy. The central bank started releasing newly designed notes last month but many Nigerians say they are not yet available in banks. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says recalling the notes is part of plans to reduce the use of cash. About 1.3 trillion naira in old notes has been deposited into the bank since the announcement in October, the bank said this week. Nigerian legislators have also asked the central bank to extend the Tuesday deadline.

☆ Nigeria's Obasanjo clinches unlikely Ethiopia truce
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

[1/2] Former Nigerian president and African Union envoy Olesegun Obasanjo arrives for the signing of the AU-led negotiations to resolve the conflict in northern Ethiopia, in Pretoria , South Africa, November 2, 2022. Summary Obasanjo stepped down as Nigeria's president in 2007Now aged 85, he took up peace-making in retirementMediated in crises from Ivory Coast to MozambiqueJOHANNESBURG, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Olusegun Obasanjo has had mixed results as a mediator of intractable conflicts across Africa since he stepped down as Nigeria's president in 2007, although he has never tired of trying. Obasanjo stepped down from Nigeria's presidency in 2007 and presided over elections that marked the first handover of power from one civilian head of state to another in Nigeria since it became independent from Britain in 1960. The test now is whether Ethiopia's conflict is on track for a permanent peace deal or just a temporary respite. After Abacha's death in 1998, Obasanjo was released and was elected as civilian president in 1999.

☆ Nigerian presidential contender Abubakar calls for flood relief fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Former Nigeria Vice President Atiku Abubakar adresses the People's Democratic Party delegates during the Special convention in Abuja, Nigeria May 28, 2022. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File PhotoLAGOS, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Nigeria's main opposition presidential contender on Wednesday called on the government to immediately set up a flood disaster fund similar to one created to fight the coronavirus pandemic, to help victims hit by the worst floods in a decade. Atiku Abubakar said after a trip to oil-producing Bayelsa state, one of the worst hit, that the floods were a reminder of the impact of climate change and urged the government to immediately launch a Flood Disaster Relief Fund. "It is a national emergency relief fund, similar in scope to what was initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic," Abubakar said, referring to a $1.4 billion fund that the government launched in 2020 at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Critics have accused the federal government of being slow to help flood victims.

☆ Nigeria's Abubakar launches bid to succeed Buhari as president
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Story Reuters | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Abuja, Nigeria Reuters —Nigeria’s main opposition leader Atiku Abubakar launched his presidential election campaign on Wednesday calling for a sweeping victory to save the country from a “frightening descent” into anarchy. Official election campaigning started on Wednesday, ahead of a February presidential vote to choose a successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who is serving a final second term. Abubakar, 75, and a former vice president between 1999-2007 is running for the third time. “We have a plan to address these issues,” Abubakar said at a ceremony to start his campaign. Polls in Nigeria are unreliable, but Tinubu and Abubakar - both septuagenarian political veterans - lead the two biggest political parties that have ruled Nigeria since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

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