No presidential election has ever been overturned by Nigeria’s courts, but many strongly believe that 2023 may be the exception. Beyond the winner-takes-all royal rumble that may now ensue before an electoral tribunal, there is the larger existential question that hangs over the fate of the nation.
One cannot escape the feeling that Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election was a seminal moment in the country’s history. With the media focused squarely on the electoral fortunes of former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, who emerged as a viable third force—the first since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999—both Nigerians and the observing international community were seemingly waiting to see if Obi could pull off the sort of people-led electoral victories Zambia’s Hakainde Hichilema and Kenya’s William Ruto did in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Arguably, the election came as the nation faced heightened division amongst its people. In the South East, an insurgency rages intending to actualize the long-held dream of Biafra. In the north central, Christian minorities cry of an ongoing pogrom at the hands of Fulani ethnic militias. In the South West, Yoruba nationalists call for an independent Yoruba nation. At the presidential elections, these forces came to a head as each of Nigeria’s major ethnic groups, the Hausa (and Fulani), Yoruba, and Igbo were represented by a viable candidate, with predictably reflective voting patterns.
Every year, The Republic publishes the most ambitious writing focused on Africa, from news and analysis to long-form features.
To continue reading this article, Subscribe or Register for a Free Pass.
Already a subscriber? Log in.