It was yet another win Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari as president of Africa’s biggest oil producer-Nigeria. Buhari sets into his second term as a president with promises to lift the slowly- growing economy with infrastructure, spending and tackle security threats including a devastating war against insurgents loyal to Islamist State.
His election victory will be stained by an expected opposition legal challenge for alleged irregularities and criticism by local and international observers. The European Union called the irregularities during elections as “serious operational shortcomings” and violence that claimed at least 39 lives.
Buhari was declared the winner Wednesday after beating his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar, by a big margin of 56 percent to 41 percent. Just 35.7 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.
Buhari faces a divided nation, with an increasingly youthful population angry over the lack of jobs and educational opportunities, with ethnic and religious divisions often close to the boil. Nigeria now has 87 million extremely poor people, more than any other nation, according to the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank. The United Nations expects its population to double to 410 million by 2050, overtaking everywhere bar India and China.
“What we should be focused on at this point is how to heal the country, how to merge the widening divide that this election has actually brought,” said Idayat Hassan, director at the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja.
Buhari’s triumph marks a remarkable turnaround for a 76-year-old former general who his critics nicknamed “Baba Go-Slow” in reference to what appeared to be his sluggish response to crises and his health problems. He spent more than five months in 2017 receiving medical treatment in the U.K. for an undisclosed ailment.