2011 Nigerian presidential election

2011 Nigerian presidential election
← 2007 16 April 2011 2015 →
73,528,040 registered voters[1]
25% in each of 2/3 States + Majority[2] votes needed to win
Turnout53.68%[1]
 
Nominee Goodluck Jonathan Muhammadu Buhari Nuhu Ribadu
Party PDP CPC ACN
Running mate Namadi Sambo Tunde Bakare Fola Adeola
States carried 22 + FCT 13 1
Popular vote 22,495,187 12,214,853 2,079,151
Percentage 58.87% 31.97% 5.44%
States won by Jonathan (in green), Buhari (blue), and Ribadu (purple)
President before election

Goodluck Jonathan (Acting)
PDP

Elected President

Goodluck Jonathan
PDP

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Presidential elections were held in Nigeria on 16 April 2011, postponed from 9 April 2011.[3][4][5] The election followed controversy as to whether a northerner or southerner should be allowed to become president given the tradition of rotating the top office between the north and the south after the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, a northerner, when Goodluck Jonathan, another southerner assumed the interim presidency.

Immediately after the election widespread violence erupted in the northern, Muslim parts of the country.[6] Jonathan was declared the winner on 19 April.[7] However, international observers declared the election to be "orderly, free and fair" in the entire southern half of the country.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Voter turnout data for Nigeria". International IDEA. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Approved Guidelines and Regulations for the Conduct of 2015 General Elections" (PDF). Abuja: Independent National Electoral Commission. January 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  3. ^ "Nigeria to hold presidential election on 9 April". BBC News. 23 November 2010.
  4. ^ Nigeria’s General Elections Postponed From January To April As A New Voter Registration Software Is Released By The Inec All West Africa News Archived 2 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ "Nigeria Elections postponed for second time". Aljazeera News. 3 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Jonathan rival rejects vote result as thousands flee Nigeria unrest". Daily Nation. Kenya. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
  7. ^ Purefoy, Christian (19 April 2011). "Widespread election violence erupts in Nigeria". CNN. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
  8. ^ "Jonathan rival rejects vote result as thousands flee Nigeria unrest". 3 July 2020.