In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Nigeria’s electoral commission formally declared that President Muhammadu Buhari had been re-elected, securing a second term. However, concerns remain about attempts at voter suppression, especially of the young.
Last year, I registered for my permanent voters card, or PVC, ahead of the elections. And come election day, I arrived at my polling station shortly after eight o’clock in the morning. I was expecting voting to have already begun, but the materials required for the process had not yet arrived. After two hours of standing under the scorching February sun, voting finally commenced.
It soon became clear that the card readers meant to verify our PVCs, and so allow us to vote, were faulty. Fortunately, I was allowed to register manually and continue with the process, but not everyone was so lucky.
Since 2007, Nigeria’s elections have been heavily criticised by both domestic and international observers, with several allegations of vote-rigging and broader criticisms of the process. With more than 50 per cent of voters in Nigeria aged between 18 and 35, this is a problem that has particularly affected the young.
Meanwhile, the two main candidates in this presidential election, Mr Buhari and former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, were both over the age of 70. This exacerbated an already deepdisconnect between young people and the political process. Despite the passing in 2017 of a “not too young to run” law that lowered age limits for political office, the perception remains that in Nigeria you are never too old to rule.
Many young Nigerians are also poorly informed about politics, believing the election to be a two horse race. I spoke to a young man who asked to remain anonymous. He voted for Mr Abubakar. “I voted for Atiku because I felt there was no credible third force. I did not feel there was anyone genuine enough for me to vote against the dual system that Nigeria has created. I am actually more in support of Buhari than I am of Atiku, but for the sake of democracy and showing leaders that if you don’t succeed we will vote you out, I gave my vote to Atiku.”
Many young people believed that a win for Mr Abubakar would be a win for democracy. They have suffered as socio-economic conditions worsened during Mr Buhari’s first term.
Although Mr Buhari inherited a number of problems, notably Nigeria’s heavily depleted foreign reserves, from the previous administration of Goodluck Jonathan, it is widely believed that the current president’s policy choices have made them worse. An example is his failure in 2018 to sign the African Union Free Trade Agreement, which many believed would have helped to boost the Nigerian economy through trade partnerships with neighbouring countries.
The question, now that Mr Buhari has been re-elected, is whether things will change or remain the same. A rapid increase in youth unemployment and Nigeria overtaking India as the country with the largest number of people living in extreme poverty suggest that young people’s fears are being validated.
It is vital, therefore, that the young play an active role in shaping the country’s future. In doing so they can show that the highest office in the land is not that of president, but that of citizen.
Laila Johnson-Salami, FT
