On Saturday February 16, Nigerians will go to the polls for a presidential election with stakes high in the ahead of Saturday’s vote.
The incumbent Muhammadu Buhari is running for a second term in tightly contested elections due to be held on Saturday.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar is seen as his main contender.
The elections campaigns have been marked by widespread discontent over unemployment, poverty and insecurity in some parts of the Africa’s most populous nation.
In addition, international development organizations believe much is at stake in this election, more so than in previous years.
Mr Buhari is viewed as austere, tough on corruption, and lacking in flair. On the other hand, Mr Atiku is a gregarious multibillionaire businessman and veteran politician who is seen as business-savvy and has promised economic liberalization, but he has been dogged by corruption allegations.
When it comes to development, the two candidates have made similar promises on several key issues. Both manifestos prioritize job creation, infrastructure, and human capital, while Atiku has an additional focus on poverty eradication, and Buhari on entrepreneurship and political inclusion.
Both men are of the same religion, same region and same ethnic group, northern Nigeria and both men are Fulani Muslims.
Nnamdi Obasi, a senior advisor on Nigeria at the International Crisis Group, says about the two characters, ““these are quite mitigating factors on certain kinds of violence…the regional dimensions of violence, the religious dimensions of violence…are mitigated this time around.”
In the runner-up to the elections, fake news has come into the picture that the president recently felt compelled to declare that he had not died and been replaced by a Sudanese body double.
Officials warn that fake or outdated pictures depicting communal violence trigger retaliatory killings.
“Many were killed in reprisal killings sparked by horrific, but false, photos purporting to depict deaths in the conflict between herdsmen and farmers in central Nigeria last year,” said Tolu Ogunlesi who is Buhari’s media assistant.