How every election since 1999 unfolded: candidates, results and turning points.
44 stories
From Bola Tinubu's 1999 win to Babajide Sanwo-Olu's second term in 2023, the same political family has held Lagos for 27 years. The margins tell a more interesting story.
Bola Tinubu won with 36.6% in the most competitive presidential race since 1999. Peter Obi's rise, a cash crunch and INEC's failure to upload results in real time shaped the vote.
Muhammadu Buhari beat Atiku Abubakar by more than 3.9 million votes in an election delayed by a week, just hours before polls were due to open.
Muhammadu Buhari won at his fourth attempt, and Goodluck Jonathan's phone call conceding defeat set a new standard for Nigerian democracy.
Goodluck Jonathan won with 58.9% in what observers called a significant improvement on 2007, but riots across 12 northern states killed more than 800 people.
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua won the first handover from one elected president to another, but observers called the polls the worst they had seen, and the new president agreed they needed fixing.
The first election organised by a civilian government ended in a second term for Olusegun Obasanjo, amid serious complaints of fraud and violence.
Olusegun Obasanjo beat Olu Falae with 62.8% of the vote, ending 16 years of military rule and opening the Fourth Republic.
