Nigeria
Electoral Institution
Independent National Election Commission (INEC)
Population:
204,722,089
Eligible Voting Population:
84,004,084
Minimum Voter's Age:
18
Political Regime
Nigerians elects on the federal level a head of state (the President of Nigeria) and a legislature (the National Assembly). The president is elected by the people. The National Assembly has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 360 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 109 members, elected for a four-year term: each of the 36 states are divided into 3 senatorial districts, each of which is represented by one senator; the Federal Capital Territory is represented by only one senator.
Number of Political Parties:
18
Number of Election Held
General elections : 9 (1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) Parliamentary elections : 19 (1923, 1928, 1933, 1938, 1943, 1947, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1979, 1983, 1992, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019) Regional elections : 5 (1996, 2002, 2009, 2014, 2020) Municipal elections : 5 (1996, 2002, 2009, 2014, 2020) Referendums : 5 (1958, 1963, 1970, 2001, 2016)
When are the Next Elections?
General elections: 2023 Parliamentary elections: 2023
Nigeria was scheduled for Independence from Britain in 1960, and three main political parties ran in the preparatory elections in 1959. When no party won a majority during the 1959 elections, the Northern People's Congress (NPC) combined with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) to form a government, and when independence arrived on 1st October 1960, Abubakar Balewa was made the Prime Minister, and Nnamdi Azikiwe was appointed Governor-General. When Nigeria became a Republic in 1963, Nnamdi Azikiwe was elected President of the Federal Republic, and Balewa remained as Prime Minister. The first of several coups occurred in January 1966 and Tafawa Balewa was among those killed. Army commander Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi headed a new administration, which abolished the federation and instituted a unitary state. In May 1967, Lt-Col Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu declared eastern Nigeria an independent state named the Republic of Biafra.28 This led to civil war. Hostilities lasted until Biafra was defeated in January 1970 and Ojukwu went into exile; the war cost some one million lives. Nigeria has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and a third party that is electorally successful. However, members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) had controlled the presidency since elections were resumed in 1999 until 2015 when Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election.