Nigerian elections: How Peter Obi disrupted a two-horse race
It was in January that the comedy routine of Mr Makati began to change. His weekly Saturday night standup at the Memento Lounge in Lagos, Nigeria’s pulsing commercial capital, switched from gags about the daily hassles of living in Africa’s most populous nation to the practicalities of voting.
“He was telling jokes about how to obtain your PVC [Permanent Voter Card], getting people to register to vote”, says the novelist A Igoni Barrett, a regular at the club. Although no names were mentioned, Barrett says, everyone knew what the voter registration drive was all about.
“Ninety per cent of the audience supports Peter Obi”, Barrett estimates, referring to the relative political newcomer whose emergence as a credible candidate has electrified young voters and shifted the odds in this month’s presidential election.… Seguir leyendo »