Electoral system for the president

Nigeria, Constitution 1999, accessed 16 February 2023

Article 134.

1. A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election-

a) he has the majority of votes cast at the election; and

b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

2. A candidate for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two candidates for the election-

a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the election; and

b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

3. In a default of a candidate duly elected in accordance with subsection (2) of this section their shall be a second election in accordance with subsection (4) of this section at which the only candidates shall be-

a) the candidate who scored the highest number of votes at any election held in accordance with the said subsection (2) of this section; and

b) one among the remaining candidates who has a majority of votes in the highest number of States, so however that where there are more than one candidate with majority of votes in the highest number of States, the candidate among them with the highest total of votes cast at the election shall be the second candidate for the election.

4. In default of a candidate duly elected under the foregoing subsections, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall within seven days of the result of the election held under the said subsections, arrange for an election between the two candidates and a candidate at such election shall be deemed elected to the office of President if-

a) he has a majority of votes cast at the election; and

b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

5. In default of a candidate duly elected under subsection (4) of this section, the Independent National Electoral Commission shall, within seven days of the result of the election held under the aforesaid subsection (4), arrange for another election between the two candidates to which the subsection relates and a candidate at such election shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of President, if he has a majority of the votes cast at the election.