Aspirations and Realities in Africa: IV. Nigeria's Emerging Two-Party System?

This article reviews Nigeria's recently concluded 2019 general elections, which mark twenty years of unbroken civil rule. It considers the impact of the election-management body's technological solutions to vote fraud and concludes that notwithstanding logistical challenges, a low turnout, vote-buying and pockets of violence, the era of wholesale election-rigging in Nigeria appears to be over. Despite attempts at creating a "third force" in Nigerian politics, a two-party system seems to be evolving. The article examines the main opposition's better-than-expected performance, and factors that may affect the ruling party in its efforts to retain the upper hand.