Buhari’s party wins Nigerian state vote marred by bribery

Bloomberg

Nigeria’s ruling party won a gubernatorial vote in a key swing state, with reports of widespread bribery signalling the probable shape of the battle in February’s general elections.
The Ekiti win is a boost for the re-election chances of President Muhammadu Buhari, 75. It shows his All Progressives Congress retains the muscle in the southwest region that helped him in 2015 to become the first opposition candidate to win power in a democratic vote in Africa’s most populous nation. It also indicates that Nigeria’s money-fuelled politics is thriving.
“The APC needed to win to set the tone in a key region ahead of the 2019 general election and it has won,” Antony Goldman, West Africa analyst at London-based PM Consulting, said in emailed comments. “But the campaign shows how much of a challenge it is to shift Nigeria’s political culture.”
The APC’s candidate, former Minister of Solid Minerals
Development, Kayode Fayemi, defeated the aspirant of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party, which had controlled the state for the past four years.
Vote buying was widespread and conducted with “impunity” in many cases, according to the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room group, which monitored the election, with some reports putting the price of a ballot between $8.30 and 5,000 naira.