In previous explainers, The Republic explored how voting works in Nigeria; if the elections can be postponed and what the law provides in the case of a candidate’s death before the elections.
With two weeks to the tightly contested 2023 presidential elections, voters want to know how the electoral system in Nigeria determines the winner of the executive and legislative elections after voting has concluded and the results have been collated.
In Nigeria, the presidential and governorship elections use a majority system, which means the winner is the candidate who got the most votes.
Section 134 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides the criteria to be fulfilled before the candidates running for executive or legislative positions can be declared winners of the polls.
First, the candidate must receive the highest number of votes cast in the entire country and secondly, at least one-quarter (25 per cent) of the votes in two-thirds of all the states and the Federal Capital Territory.
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