The 2015 Nigerian General Elections

Abstract

The high level of success of Nigeria's 2015 general elections was unexpected, considering the difficult political and security environment in which the elections were conducted. The major obstacles to the smooth conduct of the elections include the grave security threat posed by the Boko Haram insurgency, the competing claims to the presidency by northern and southern politicians, a keenly contested campaign smeared by inflammatory messages, and serious gaps in electoral preparations. Against the backdrop of these challenges, this article assesses Nigeria's 2015 general elections, looking closely at the key issues that affected the polls, the major electoral outcomes, and the critical post-election issues raised by the outcomes.

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“…Very low voter participation in the presidential poll (34%) was probably a consequence of very late openings of polling stations as well as the discouraging effects of violence -150 people died during the campaigning. Turnout was lower than in 2015 when 42% of the registered electorate voted, and the 2019 death-toll was three times higher (Orji 2015;Mahmud 2015). The one-week-long postponement of elections probably helped to reduce participation.…”

The Role of Social Media in Contemporary Democracy: A Comparative Study of Apc and PDP Campaigns During the 2015 and 2019 General Elections in Nigeria

“…The PDP also scored huge victories in the gubernatorial and National Assembly elections too. 'Orji (2015) wrote that prior to the election, there were concerns about the possibility of large scale election violence depending on the winner of the presidential election. The obvious peaceful nature of the election came as a big surprise considering the volatile political environment which was evident at that time.…”

“…Olakunle and Modupe (2015) wrote that election campaigns by the political parties involved in the election started their election campaigns in different states in Nigeria. Orji (2015) wrote that the electioneering campaigns by both political parties were targeted at smearing the integrity of the different candidates representing both parties. Thurston (2015) wrote that the APC's campaign was hinged on the idea that the PDP have been in power for years without securing any noticeable change in the country.…”

“…INEC later postponed the elections based on security concerns raised by the National Security Council. The election was postponed to 28 th March for Presidential election and National Assembly elections while April 11 th for Gubernatorial and State Houses of Assembly elections (Orji, 2015).…”

“…The actual result was 15,424,921 votes for Buhari and 12,853,162 votes for Jonathan (Olakunle and Modupe, 2015). Orji (2015) wrote that the result of the 2015 election was significant because it was the first time an opposition party will upstage the incumbent government in Nigeria using legitimate means. Table 2 shows the presidential results of 2 political parties out of the 14 political parties who participated in the election.…”