Nigerian general election, 2015

Nigerian general elections, 2015

← 2011 28–29 March 2015 (2015-03) 2019 →
68,833,476 registered voters 25% in each of 2/3 States + Majority votes needed to win
Opinion polls
Turnout	43.65%
Nominee Muhammadu Buhari Goodluck Jonathan Party APC PDP Running mate Yemi Osinbajo Namadi Sambo Popular vote 15,424,921 12,853,162 Percentage 53.96% 44.96%
States won by Jonathan (in green) and Buhari (blue)
President before election Goodluck Jonathan PDP Elected President Muhammadu Buhari APC

Goodluck Jonathan
PDP

Muhammadu Buhari
APC

The Nigerian general elections of 2015 was the 5th election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999. Voters elected the President and members to the House of Representatives and the Senate. The incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan sought his second and final term.

The elections were first scheduled to be held on 14 February 2015. However, the electoral commission postponed it by six weeks to 28 March, mainly due to the poor distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, and also to curb ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in certain north-eastern states. The government closed its land and sea borders from midnight on 25 March until the end of the polling date. The election was extended to 29 March due to delays and technical problems with the biometric card readers.

It was the most expensive election ever to be held on the African continent. Nigeria is the continent's most populous country, has its largest economy and is its leading oil producer. Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election by more than 2.5 million votes. Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat on 31 March, before the results from all 36 states had been announced. The election marks the first time an incumbent president has lost re-election in Nigeria. The President-elect was sworn-in on 29 May 2015.