On February 27, 1999, Nigeria held its first Presidential elections since the 1993 military coup.
These elections were the first of the Fourth Nigerian Republic.
Since 1999, Nigeria has had six elections, and each time the results had been almost unpredictable with fresh faces in some of the elections and certain persons contesting again after losing at previous polls.
1999 General Elections
In 1999, the first presidential election of the fourth Nigerian republic was held.
In a not-so-surprising victory, Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won with Atiku Abubakar as his running mate.
Obasanjo won by 62.78% against Olu Falae of the joint Alliance for Democracy and All People’s Party (AD/APP) who had 37.22%.
Obasanjo was declared president after he polled a total of 18,738,154 votes, while Falae had 11,110,287.
However, Falae claimed he won the elections but the results were overturned while he was asleep.
“I didn’t lose. I won the election. The military felt safer in the hands of a fellow military man as their successor,” Falae said.
“Yes, I worked with them; they knew what I could do, they knew my integrity, but I was not a soldier.
“One of them later said ‘you could trust a sergeant more than a graduate’.
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“Before the election, the government was already giving the presidential plane to him to go around Africa.
“I saw that, it showed their preference, but I won the election,” Falae insists.
Obasanjo was a military man, but having retired, it means he could contest as a civilian.
Indeed, he became the president.
The 2003 Presidential Election
In 2003, Obasanjo contested again for a second term of four years and this time his major opponent was Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
Obasanjo won with a 61.94% win to Buhari’s 32.19%.
The PDP candidate was once again declared president and spent another four years in office.
2007 Presidential Election
In 2007, Obasanjo could not run again, as he had used up the number of terms provided by the constitution.
The PDP then produced another candidate, Umaru Yar’Adua who ran alongside Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Yar’Adua had a landslide victory pulling 68.60% of the votes cast.
Buhari who contested again on the platform of the (AD/APP) had only 18.66% of the votes.
Atiku who also contested on the platform of the Action Congress (AC) formerly known as Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has 7.45% of the votes.
The 2011 Presidential Election
In 2011, Yar’Adua could not contest again because in 2009 he left for Saudi Arabia to receive treatment for pericarditis.
He returned to Nigeria on February 24, 2010, but died on May 5.
Jonathan became the interim president till the end of the four-year tenure in 2011.
At the 2011 polls, Jonathan contested for the presidency on the PDP platform.
He won by 58.87% against Buhari who contested again on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).
Buhari managed to pull 31.97% votes.
Buhari Tastes Victory At 2015 Polls
After contesting and losing thrice, Buhari contested for the fourth time in 2015.
This time, he contested on the platform of the APC; a merger of the CPC, ACN, ANPP, and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Buhari finally tasted victory after pulling 62.78% votes.
Jonathan who ran again had 37.22% votes.
Buhari was declared a civilian president for the first time in 2015.
Buhari Maintains Victory At 2019 Polls
At the 2019 polls, Buhari won again with 55.60% of the votes.
However, Atiku who contested on the PDP platform lost again after pulling 41.22% votes.
Buhari was once again declared president for a second term of four years.
The 2023 Presidential Election
Nigerians are set to elect a new president and this time a new party has made its way to the top of the most voters’ minds.
Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling APC is contesting and he believes that “Emi lo kan” (it is his turn to be president).
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Despite never contesting before, Tinubu claims he had a hand in Buhari’s election and now he has a chance at winning.
On the other hand, Atiku is once again contesting on the platform of the PDP and he believes he is the best candidate having once been a vice president.
Atiku promises to ‘reform’ Nigeria and fulfill the promises Obasanjo could not fulfill.
However, there is a new face in the game, a businessman and the former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi.
He is contesting for the first time on the platform of the Labour Party, having contested as the running mate of Atiku in 2019.
Obi is promising a ‘New Nigeria’ and polls conducted by different data companies have put Obi in the lead.
These polls suggest that Obi has a high chance of winning the 2023 presidential election.
It is now up to the voters to decide on February 25.
