Nigeria general elections to test dominant parties

ABUJA, Nigeria — In a final push for votes, presidential candidates vying in Nigeria's general elections, which begin this weekend, concluded their campaigns midweek in line with the country's electoral laws.

Eighteen candidates will take part in the presidential election on Saturday, alongside national assembly elections. The fates of the presidential candidates are to be decided by more than 93 million voters registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigeria's electoral body, across the country's 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory.

The elections come amid tensions related to security fears, alleged vote buying by politicians and shortages of the naira, the Nigerian currency.

Several candidates in the presidential race signed a peace accord on Wednesday, in a bid to ensure a free and peaceful election.

"Let me remind all Nigerians not for the first time that this is the only country we have, and we must do everything to keep it safe, united and peaceful," President Muhammadu Buhari said at the event.

Nigeria's governing All Progressives Congress party has said it is convinced about "coasting home to victory" in the presidential poll after rounding off its nationwide engagement with supporters and voters for about six months.

The APC Presidential Campaign Council told reporters at a news conference in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, on Wednesday that its campaign for votes peaked at a grand rally attended by Buhari in the southwestern state of Lagos on Tuesday.

"The hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic supporters and party members that thronged our rallies, and those that marched on the streets to welcome our candidates attest to the popularity and acceptability of our party and flag-bearers by the masses," said Dele Alake, lead spokesman for the ruling party's campaign council.

Alake described the ruling party's presidential campaign season, which officially kicked off in the central Plateau state in November, as "exciting and animating", as Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC's presidential candidate, traveled to all 36 states and made return trips to many for additional engagements.

For his part, 76-year-old Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the main opposition People's Democratic Party, believes his "imminent victory" in the upcoming presidential election would be "a deliverance for Nigerians".

'World is watching'

Dele Momodu, a senior spokesman for the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, said in a statement Thursday that recent interactions with all classes of people in the course of Abubakar's nationwide campaign had endeared him to Nigerians.

In several tweets on Wednesday, Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labor Party, urged the voters to consider him for the country's top job, saying his victory would bring "change" to the West African nation.

"The world is watching. We must take our destined position as the giant of Africa. You and I know the right thing to do. The greatest lie one can tell is a lie to one's soul. If you are still undecided, please talk to yourself. Allow your conscience to guide you," Obi said.

Xinhua, agencies and Nicholas D. Nimley in Monrovia, Liberia, contributed to this story.