Many candidates—federal, state and local—seek power to grab a share of the country’s oil wealth. But Peter Obi, a third-party presidential candidate, offers a measure of hope
Africa’s most populous country is in desperate need of it. The economy, the continent’s biggest, bursts with youthful potential—half the country is 18 years old or younger. A flourishingwould boost the whole of Africa. Instead it is dragging it down. Nigerians are poorer now than they were in 2015, when the outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari, took over. At least 60m survive on less than the equivalent of $2.15 per day. Mr Buhari’s protectionist policies have made things worse.
Turning that round starts with a clean ballot. Rigging elections outright is harder these days but the electoral body and police must clamp down more on intimidation and vote-buying.of the ruling All Progressives Congress is an old-school politician who, at 70 years old, is unlikely to shake things up. He shuns scrutiny. His manifesto veers from the fanciful to the incoherent . In the 1990s the American government froze some of his assets, accusing him of profiting from drug-trafficking.
Mr Obi, a sprightly 61-year-old former state governor who is leading in the polls, offers an alternative. Most striking, he has urged people not to vote along ethnic or religious lines but to favour competence. Should they do so, it would mark a radical shift in Nigerian politics. He has also warned his supporters they should expect no money in return for their votes.
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