Thousands of Nigerians rally a week before crucial election

The frontrunners in Nigeria’s presidential race hit the campaign trail on Saturday, launching a major push to convince voters a week before the polls. More than 90 million people are registered to vote in a country where President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after serving the two terms allowed by the constitution.

Waving from the top of an open‑air double‑decker bus, the ruling party’s candidate Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress paraded through the streets of Maiduguri in north‑east Borno State. Tinubu is expected to stage a final rally in Lagos on Tuesday. In nearby Adamawa State, the main opposition candidate, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, also entered the city of Yola on a double‑decker bus. Thousands attended both rallies, waving flags, shouting party slogans and listening to music blared from loudspeakers.

Outsider candidate Peter Obi was not seen on the campaign trail but used social media to call on his supporters, the “Obidients,” to rally in several cities across the country. In the capital Abuja, several hundred Obi supporters marched from the city centre to the city gate, chanting and blowing vuvuzelas.

Campaigning proceeds amid widespread insecurity and a currency crisis. On Saturday morning, gunmen attacked a police station in the Ogidi area of southeastern Anambra State. “The hoodlums started shooting sporadically on approaching the area command and threw improvised explosive devices and petrol bombs, gaining entrance into the station,” police spokesman Ikenga Tochukwu said. “Three police operatives paid the supreme price,” he added. The unrest in the southeast adds to the challenges facing security forces, who are also battling a 14‑year‑old jihadist insurgency in the north‑east and kidnapping gangs in the north‑west.

Nigerians have also been struggling with a cash shortage since the central bank introduced newly designed notes in December and banned the old ones. In an effort to promote “cashless” payments and reduce the amount of money outside the banking system, the central bank printed far fewer notes than were previously in circulation. The resulting lack of cash has triggered protests in major cities this week, with customers attacking banks and barricading roads just days before the election. Tensions have also emerged within the ruling APC, with accusations that the cash crisis could frustrate Tinubu’s bid for election.