Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed an ambitious budget into law Monday, days ahead of the official start of his second term leading Africa’s largest oil producer. Buhari approved the spending plan worth 8.92 trillion naira — about $29 billion based on the official fixed exchange …
Read More »OIL: Ghost ships of Lagos, a haven of crime
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | The two men in the motorised wooden canoe look around warily as they leave a towering shipwreck in the Lagos lagoon, with the barrels of oil on board barely concealed under rags. The rusting hulk of iron and peeling paint has been battered by the …
Read More »Nigeria vote tensions rise as counting suspended in volatile state
Port Harcourt, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s election authorities announced the suspension of activities in volatile opposition-held Rivers State on Sunday citing violence and threats to its staff, as tensions rise in the wake of closely-watched regional elections. Counting is continuing across the country after Saturday’s elections for governors in 29 …
Read More »Muhammadu Buhari: Nigeria’s anti-corruption president
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope that he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists and turn around a country blighted by decades of corruption and poor governance. But while he will go down in history as Nigeria’s first opposition …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari wins another term
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Muhammadu Buhari was on Tuesday re-elected Nigeria’s president, after a delayed poll that angered voters and raised political temperatures, leading to claims of rigging and collusion. Buhari, 76, took an unassailable lead of more than four million votes with the last states yet to be …
Read More »Buhari votes as Nigeria poll day gets underway
Daura, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerians voted for a new president on Saturday after a week-long delay that has raised political tempers, sparked conspiracy claims and stoked fears of violence. Some 120,000 polling stations opened from 0700 GMT, although there were delays in the delivery of some materials and deployment …
Read More »Nigeria vote delay throws wedding plans into chaos
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Jude Ezeanyagu woke up last Saturday morning and texted guests the final reminders about his wedding the following week in Delta state, southern Nigeria. Then he got a reply. “My friend texted me back, ‘Have you not seen the news? They’ve shifted the elections’,” …
Read More »Nigeria counts cost of postponed presidential poll
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerians on Sunday counted the cost of the last-minute postponement of presidential elections, with predictions the delay could lose the country billions of dollars. The streets of Lagos, the country’s sprawling commercial hub of more than 20 million people, were empty following disappointment and anger …
Read More »Nigeria’s presidential election: the main candidates
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s presidential election that has been postponed, will feature more than 70 candidates but it is ultimately expected to be a head-to-head between just two men. – Muhammadu Buhari (All Progressives Congress) – Buhari’s landmark 2015 election victory over Goodluck Jonathan was the first time …
Read More »Logistical problems force Nigeria election delay
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s electoral watchdog on Saturday postponed presidential and parliamentary elections for one week, just hours before polls were due to open. The two main political parties swiftly condemned the move and accused each other of orchestrating the delay as a way of manipulating the vote. …
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