Nigerian presidential election, 2003

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Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 19 April 2003. The result was a victory for incumbent Olusegun Obasanjo of the People's Democratic Party. Voter turnout was 69.1%.[1]

Background

New elections were organized for the first time for 15 years in Nigeria by a civilian government. Olusegun Obasanjo was a civilian president since 1999, after hanging up his uniform. Although he and his party were the clear favorites, he was accused of manipulating the ballot.

Electoral fraud

Millions of people voted several times. The police in Lagos uncovered an electoral fraud, finding five million false ballots.

International observers, including the European Union, determined various irregularities in 11 of the 36 Federal States. Thus in many cases votes were pre-filled or results were later amended. In some states those did not fulfill minimum standard for democratic elections.

Nearly all opposition parties refused to recognize the result. The electoral committee noted for example that in the city Warri in the Niger delta of 135,739 voters, 133,529 voted for the parliamentary election. Observers reported, however, that up to the Saturday afternoon no elections and only some polling stations had opened. Also the counting time very long compared with other countries pointed according to observers on possible electoral fraud.

Results

Candidate Party Votes %
Olusegun ObasanjoPeople's Democratic Party24,456,14061.94
Muhammadu BuhariAll Nigeria People's Party12,710,02232.19
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu OjukwuAll Progressives Grand Alliance1,297,4453.29
Jim NwobodoUnited Nigeria People's Party169,6090.43
Gani FawehinmiNational Conscience Party161,3330.41
Sarah JubrilProgressive Action Congress157,5600.40
Ike NwachukwuNational Democratic Party132,9970.34
Chris OkotieJustice Party119,5470.30
Balarabe MusaPeople's Redemption Party100,7650.26
Arthur NwankwoPeople's Mandate Party57,7200.15
Emmanuel OkerekeAll People's Liberation Party26,9210.07
Kalu Idika KaluNew Nigeria People's Party23,8300.06
Muhammadu Dikko YusufMovement for Democracy and Justice21,4030.05
Yahaya NduAfrican Renaissance Party11,5650.03
Abayomi FerreiraDemocratic Alternative6,7270.02
Tunji BraithwaiteNigeria Advance Party6,9320.02
Iheanyichukwu Godswill NnajiBetter Nigeria Progressive Party5,9870.02
Olapade AgoroNational Action Council5,7560.01
Pere AjuwaLiberal Democratic Party of Nigeria4,4730.01
Mojisola Adekunle-ObasanjoMasses Movement of Nigeria3,7570.01
Invalid/blank votes2,538,246-
Total42,018,735100

References

  1. Elections in Nigeria African Elections Database
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