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

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.