2003 Nigerian presidential election

← 1999 19 April 2003 2007 →
Registered	60,823,022
Turnout	69.08% ( 16.82pp)
Nominee Olusegun Obasanjo Muhammadu Buhari Party PDP ANPP Running mate Atiku Abubakar Chuba Okadigbo States carried 26 +FCT 10 Popular vote 24,456,140 12,710,022 Percentage 61.94% 32.19%
Results by state
President before election Olusegun Obasanjo PDP ElectedPresident Olusegun Obasanjo PDP

Presidential elections were held inNigeria on 19 April 2003. The incumbent,Olusegun Obasanjo, was re-elected as thepresident of Nigeria. Supported by thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP), he defeatedMuhammadu Buhari, a formermilitary head of state during the 1980s, who was backed by theAll Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), as well as 18 other opponents. Voter turnout stood at a little over 69% — the highest ever since the end of military rule in 1999.^[1]

The elections were the first to be held under a civilian government in 20 years,^[2] and were seen as an important step on the path towardsdemocratic consolidation.^[3] Most observers regarded their conduct as relatively peaceful and credible, with security that was better than expected.^[4][5] However, they were marred by allegations offraud and vote rigging.^[6][7][8][9] Election observers turned in conflicting reports, with those from theEuropean Union reporting that the elections were "marred by serious irregularities and fraud," while observers from theCommonwealth praised the election, reporting that "a genuine and largely successful effort was made to enable the people to vote freely."^[10] The chairman of theIndependent National Electoral Commission,Abel Guobadia, rejected the vote rigging claims and defended the integrity of the election.^[5]

Following his re-election, Obasanjo gave a televised address where he thanked voters, praised the PDP as "Africa's greatest party", and urged his rivals to be "good sportsmen."^[5][9] Meanwhile, Buhari, who warned of "mass action" in case ofelectoral misconduct prior to the polls, threatened to withhold recognition of the new government.^[11] Eventually, Buhari and the ANPP went to court to challenge the results, claiming that Obasanjo's re-election was rigged and illegal. They sought to block him from assuming office, but this was rejected by theNigerian Courts of Appeal led byUmaru Abdullahi.^[12] Ultimately, Obasanjo was sworn in for his second term on 29 May 2003.^[13]

Following the death of dictatorSani Abacha in 1998, generalAbdulsalami Abubakar took over as president and ushered in ademocratic transition in Nigeria.Presidential elections were soon held in May 1999, resulting in the election ofOlusegun Obasanjo from thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the establishment of theFourth Nigerian Republic.^[14] Obasanjo had previously served asmilitary head of state from 1976 to 1979, but latertransferred power over to an elected leader. He had also been imprisoned in the mid-1990s for allegedly attempting to overthrow Abacha.^[15]

Obasanjo took office amid high expectations, with Nigerians hoping for improvements in human rights, political liberties, and accountable leadership which would address the country's issues.^[16] As Nigeria's first civilian president in 15 years, he sought to reducepoverty, combatcorruption, reform thepolice andmilitary, and establish ademocratic government.^[17] During his presidency, Obasanjo managed to restore a moderate level of trust in government and reintegrated Nigeria into the international world.^[14] There were dramatic improvements in press and civic freedoms too, but public disillusionment grew due to scandals, legislative deadlock, and political infighting. The return of civilian rule also resulted in widespread corruption andpatronage amongpolitical parties and the political class.^[16]

On the late evening of 23 April 2003, Obasanjo was declared as the winner of the election by the INEC. However, just as election officials were preparing to announce the results, the leaders of two parties — including the ANPP chairman,Donald Etiebet — stormed the podium and seized the microphones. They announced that they wouldn't endorse the official results, with Etiebet declaring that the results "did not reflect the wishes of the people."^[9]

International observers, including theEuropean Union, determined various irregularities in 11 of the 36Federal States. Thus, in many cases votes were pre-filled or results were later amended. In some states those did not fulfil minimum standard for democratic elections.

Nearly all opposition parties refused to recognise the result. The electoral committee noted for example that in the cityWarri in theNiger delta of 135,739 voters, 133,529 voted for the parliamentary election. Observers reported, however, that up to the Saturday afternoon no elections and only some polling stations had opened. Also, the counting time was very long compared with other countries pointed according to observers on possibleelectoral fraud.

• Presidential elections in Nigeria
• 2003 elections in Nigeria
• April 2003 in Nigeria
• 2003 elections in Africa
• Olusegun Obasanjo
• Electoral fraud

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