General elections were held in Nigeria on 23 February 2019 to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and the Senate.^[1][2][3][4] The elections had initially been scheduled for 16 February, but the Electoral Commission postponed the vote by a week at 03:00 on the original polling day, citing logistical challenges in getting electoral materials to polling stations on time.^[5] In some places, the vote was delayed until 24 February due to electoral violence.^[6] Polling in some areas was subsequently delayed until 9 March, when voting was carried out alongside gubernatorial and state assembly elections.^[7]

Quick Facts Registered, Turnout ...

2019 Nigerian general election

← 2015 23–24 February 2019 2023 →
Registered	82,344,107
Presidential election
Turnout	34.75% (8.90pp)
Nominee Muhammadu Buhari Atiku Abubakar Party APC PDP Running mate Yemi Osinbajo Peter Obi States carried 19 17 + FCT Popular vote 15,191,847 11,262,978 Percentage 55.60% 41.22%
States won by Abubakar (in green) and Buhari (blue)
President before election Muhammadu Buhari APC Elected President Muhammadu Buhari APC
National Assembly election
Party Leader % Seats +/– Senate APC Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan 63 +3 PDP Bukola Saraki 45 −3 YPP Ifeanyi Ubah 1 New House of Representatives APC Femi Gbajabiamila 202 −10 PDP Yakubu Dogara 128 −12 APGA Victor Ikechukwu Oye 9 +4 ADC 3 +3 AA 2 New PRP 2 +2 ADP 1 New APM 1 New LP Mike Omotosho 1 0 SDP Olu Falae 1 0 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

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The elections were the most expensive ever held in Nigeria, costing ₦69 billion (US$625 million)^[8] more than the 2015 elections.^[9][10]

Incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari won his re-election bid, defeating his closest rival Atiku Abubakar by over 3 million votes. He was issued a Certificate of Return,^[11][12] and was sworn in on 29 May 2019, the former date of Democracy Day.^[13]

The President of Nigeria is elected using a modified two round system, to be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round is held.^[14]

The 109 members of the Senate were elected from 109 single-seat constituencies (three in each state and one for the Federal Capital Territory) by first-past-the-post voting.^[15] The 360 members of the House of Representatives were also elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.^[16]

Immediately following the elections there were claims of widespread fraud by the opposition. The claims included accusations of ballot box snatching, vote-trading and impersonation. There were also claims that caches of explosives were found by police.^[43][44] Losing candidate Atiku Abubakar filed a case in the Nigerian supreme court citing widespread irregularities in the polls . However the court dismissed his case, saying that Atiku has failed to prove widespread fraud committed by the electoral team of Buhari. The court also dismissed an allegation which said that Buhari lied about his academic background.^[45]

The African Union said the elections were "largely peaceful and conducive for the conducting of credible elections." The electoral commission also described the elections as mostly peaceful.^[46] On the contrary, US-based organisation Freedom House severely criticised the conduct, saying that they were marred by irregularities and intimidation.^[47]