Nigerians are going to the polls this weekend on Feb. 25 to vote for a new president.  

On the same day, Nigerians will also choose their representatives for the National Assembly. Two weeks later, on March 11, there will also be elections to choose governors for 28 out of Nigeria's 36 states. It’s the seventh successive general election in Nigeria’s 23 years of unbroken democratic rule.

But what do you need to know about the presidential election holding this Saturday?

Here are 9 questions and answers to help make sense of Africa’s biggest election.

1. Who are the major candidates?

There are 18 candidates in the race for Nigeria’s presidency. But the front runners are Bola Tinubu from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party's Peter Obi.

BOLA AHMED TINUBU

Tinubu, 70, is the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress. He helped form the party with Buhari in 2013 to wrestle power from the then ruling People’s Democratic Party.

Tinubu’s political career sprang from his activities with pro-democracy groups opposing military rule in the early 1990s. He became governor of Lagos State in 1999 after the return of Nigeria to democratic rule.

When Tinubu’s 8-year run as governor of Nigeria’s economic capital ended in 2007, his influence continued to grow. He is known as a political godfather in the south-west region and a major kingmaker in Nigerian politics. This is Tinubu’s first presidential election run.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Atiku, 76, is running for presidency on the ticket of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party.

Atiku, a prominent business man, served as the vice president of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007 during the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo.

Atiku is running for the third time after his loss to Buhari in 2019.

PETER OBI

Obi, 61, is the candidate of Labour Party, a lesser-known party that became a third force in elections previously dominated by the two major parties.

Obi served as governor of southeastern Anambra state between 2006 and 2014. He ran as Atiku’s vice-presidential running-mate in 2019, and was a member of Atiku’s PDP until last year.

Obi is riding on the support of mostly young Nigerians widely known as the Obedients.

2. Who is likely to win Nigeria’s presidential race?

Several polls have put Obi ahead of other candidates, but the race remains competitive and highly unpredictable.

Tinubu, with a stronghold in the southwest, would be banking on the support of 21 state governors, who are fellow party members, across southern and northern Nigeria. The country has 36 states.

Atiku would hope to bolster his chances as a major candidate from the north where the voting population has traditionally surpassed those from the south.

Obi will be counting on his growing support base of young Nigerians looking for a break from the establishment political parties. Three-quarters of those registered to vote in this election are between the ages of 18-49.

3. What does a candidate need to win?

In order to ensure victory, a candidate has to acquire the highest number of votes nationwide, and 25 percent of the vote in two-thirds of the country’s 36 states. If no candidate achieves this, the election will go to a runoff. That has never happened since Nigeria regained democracy in 1999, but analysts say it’s a major possibility this time.

4. Will the election be peaceful?

Election violence has been a threat to peaceful vote in Nigeria. Indeed, it’s been a major challenge to Nigeria’s democratic journey with rights groups saying authorities have been hesitant to solve the problem.

Last December, Nigeria’s Electoral Commissioner said their regional offices and other facilities have come under 50 attacks since 2019. Earlier this month, thugs attacked and injured supporters of the Labour Party on their way to a rally in Lagos, a stronghold of the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The Nigeria Police Force says it is sensitizing its officials on election violence control. Earlier in the month, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled new police vehicles, tasers, stun guns and anti-riot equipment designed to improve the operational capabilities of the Police.

The international community is also playing its part. The U.S., for instance, announced visa bans on Nigerians involved in undermining the country’s elections.

5. Will the vote be credible?

President Buhari has pledged “to act with neutrality and allow the rule of law to take precedence over political expediency.”

That said, tampering and vote rigging have undermined previous elections. But the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says the use of new technology will help secure the ballot. In 2021, INEC introduced a new system called Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), aimed at curbing election fraud.

The BVAS authenticates voters on election day through their fingerprints and facial recognition. With this system, people who are ineligible to vote would be stopped from voting.

The BVAS also uploads vote results to the INEC results viewing portal available to the public. In theory, this means results cannot be tampered with.

Cash for vote at polling stations has also been a major problem. But a recent redesign of currency notes has forced a cash scarcity that commentators say will curb vote-buying.

6. Why does this election matter?

According to INEC, more than 12 million new voters registered for this election. That brought total enrolled voters to 93million. But with 39 percent of them between the ages of 18 and 34, the 2023 election has been described as an election for young people in Nigeria.

And here’s why that matters.

Last year, an African Youth Survey polled young people across fifteen countries. The survey found that 52% of those polled were likely to consider emigrating in the next few years. Economic hardship and education opportunities were cited as the top reasons. In Nigeria, young people had the most negative opinion in the whole continent. 95% said things were going badly.

For many young Nigerians, this election looks like a last-minute opportunity to rescue the country.

7. What are the main issues?

Nigeria’s economy and national security remain major issues.

Spiraling inflation and a rising cost of living mean many families have to struggle to make ends meet. Lack of job opportunity is also a major problem. The Nigerian Economic Summit Group projects the country’s unemployment rate will rise to 37 percent this year.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, is one of the richest states on the continent with the biggest economy in terms of gross domestic product. Yet it faces fuel shortages while an overloaded power system continue to cause power outages.

Meanwhile, security remains another area of concern. President Buhari says he has fulfilled his promise to "courageously tackle terrorism", but many Nigerians still fee unsafe.

Indeed, President Buhari rode to power in 2015 on the promise to end the Boko Haram Insurgency. But during his two terms, the violence got worse and expanded.

The northeast where Boko Haram held sway became a target of the militant group Islamic State West Africa Province. In the agrarian north, a farmer-herder conflict has left several people dead.

And as cattle bandits plague the north-central and northwest states, the southeast contend with secessionists who have attacked electoral offices and clashed with police. Last year, a mass shooting at a Catholic church in southwest Ondo state left many in shock.

Security will be a major issue on the ballot.

8. When will INEC announce election results?

The head of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, says the electoral body plans to declare election results as swiftly as possible.

In previous presidential elections, the winner has been known on between the third and fifth day after voting. But with BVAS, transmitting results in real-time to the viewing Portal on election day, that might hasten up the process this year.

9. When will the winner be sworn in as president

May 29th is when the president elect will take the oath of office and commence a four-year term as president of Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari will hand over to the elected president on that date in line with Nigeria’s constitution