AFRICAN POLITICS 2 : THE NIGERIAN CASE

           NIGERIAN PRESIDENT GOOD LUCK  (PDP) CANDIDATE WITH GEN BUHARI (APC) CANDIDATE 

February 2015 has been fixed for Nigeria's general elections. During the exercise, electorates would join the queue to elect leaders of their choice to lead their affairs for the next four years. Prior to the election preliminary elections were held among party officials and executives to give tickets to those considered to be the right persons to lead their respective communities. These preliminary elections called party primaries within each political party, were expected to be free and fair among the party executives and officials. However, a survey conducted by the Standard Voice Media among party aspirants in each of the political parties in Nigeria indicates that most political parties did not conduct the primaries based on free and fair process. There has been wild allegations and counter accusations against the way and manner in which the party primaries were conducted. For instance, the ruling People Democratic Party ( P D P) did not allow any aspirant to even indicate interest to contest for presidency just to pave way for the incumbent president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. However, it is different in the case of the Opposition All Progressives Congress   ( A P C) where five contestants namely; Retired General Muhammadu Buhari, Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Northern Kano state, Ewele Rochas Okorochas of Eastern Imo state and a publisher of one of the Nigeria's National Dailies ( Leadership Newspapers ) Sam Nda Isiah. Here a free and fair election was held among them with Retired General Muhammadu Buhari winning the primaries. With the emergence of the retired General  as the opposition presidential candidate to face the incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, the contest is like between the South and Northern Nigeria regions and along the line of religion between the Muslims and Christians. Political Analysts say the elections comes February  2015, is likely to be Nigeria's most controvertial and violent elections and is likely to be bloody. Nigeria's Muslins who constitute larger part of the country's population are not happy with the Government of PDP Goodluck Jonathan due to high level insecurity in the Muslim dominated Northern region, corruption in the nation's oil industry, National Electricity Company sector, poor education system and high level poverty and unemployment among the country's teaming youth population.