Nigerians will choose a new president on Saturday in a closely contested campaign that three seasoned politicians will dominate.
The election is taking place while Africa's most populous democracy struggles with a security problem, a slow economy, and growing poverty, and about 90 million people are eligible to vote.
For the first time in modern Nigerian political history, a third contender has surfaced to take on the All Progressives Congress (APC) in power and the Peoples Democratic Party in the main opposition (PDP).
With Buhari leaving office after serving two terms, the APC's Bola Tinubu, 70, a former governor of Lagos and political power broker, declares that "it's my turn" to run for president.
Atiku Abubakar, a 76-year-old PDP contender and former vice president, is his longtime competitor and making his sixth presidential run.
But, the unexpected entry of Labour Party contender Peter Obi, 61, who is appealing to young people, has made the contest more competitive than it has been since the end of military rule in 1999.
This year, about 10 million new voters registered, the majority under the age of 34, constituting a sizable voting bloc if they turn out.
Kabiru Sufi, a public affairs instructor at Kano State College, remarked, "It is not as easy to forecast as before."
It's challenging for us to anticipate with certainty what will most likely happen.
In addition to making many Nigerians furious and struggling more than usual in a nation already hard-hit by more than 20% inflation, cash and petrol shortages in the days leading up to the election.
Blessing Asabe, a 37-year-old seller in Lagos, said, "This future government should try and repair all the wrongs that this administration and prior governments have made."
"For whoever we choose, this election is incredibly crucial because of it."
The National Assembly and Senate, Nigeria's two legislative chambers, will also be up for election.
- Regional ties - To win the presidency, a candidate must receive the most votes, but they must also receive 25% of the vote in two-thirds of the 36 states in Nigeria.
A runoff between the two frontrunners will occur if there is a tie, an unprecedented result that some analysts believe is possible this time.
The laws represent a nation split almost evenly between a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south, with three major ethnic groups living in each region: the Igbo in the southeast, the Hausa/Fulani in the north, and the Yoruba in the southwest.
Violence, racial tensions, vote-buying, and altercations between opposing party supporters have frequently characterized previous presidential elections.
Moreover, voting often occurs along racial and religious lines.
This time, Peter Obi is an Igbo Christian from the southeast, Tinubu is a Muslim southern Yoruba, and Atiku is a Muslim ethnic Fulani.
Due to issues with the delivery of election materials in 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decided to postpone the election by one week hours before polling opened.
Today, the majority of experts think INEC is more equipped. Biometric voter IDs are there to reduce fraud, and the results will be released online.
- Security – To safeguard the election, over 400,000 police and military personnel will be stationed nationwide.
However, there are several security issues.
Jihadists are primarily active in the northeast, bandit militias rule rural areas in the northwest, and shooters from the separatist movement have attacked INEC offices and police in the southeast.
The polls are open from 7:30 GMT to 13:30 GMT.
It takes a maximum of 14 days after the election for the official results to be released.
In case of a re-run, it should be within 21 days following the declaration.
