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Nigeria (Parliamentary)

COUNTRY	ELECTION TYPE	DATE
Federal Republic of Nigeria	Parliamentary	February 20, 1999

At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

Chief of State and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces: General Abdulsalami ABUBAKAR. General ABUBAKAR obtained power upon the June 1998 death of military ruler General Sani ABACHA.
Parliament: Nigeria's bicameral parliament, the National Assembly, is composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Members of both the Senate and the House are directly elected for four-year terms.
Total number of seats in the Senate: 109
Total number of seats in the House of Representatives: 360

Results of the electoral races:

Party: People's Democratic Party (PDP)
Leader: Olusegun OBASANJO, Solomon LAR, Alex EKWUEME
Party: All People's Party (APP)
Leader: Mahmud WAZIRI
Party: Alliance for Democracy (AD)
Leader: Solomon Oluyemi FALAE

Note: In July 1998, General ABUBAKAR announced the dissolution of the five political parties recognized by the previous government of General ABACHA. To meet eligibility requirements for the February 1999 National Assembly elections, a party must have received at least five percent of the votes cast in 24 of the 36 federal states in the December 5, 1998, local government elections.

When was the last election? Number of seats in last election?

Legislative elections last held: July 4, 1992
Seats decided in the 1992 election to the Senate: 90
Seats decided in the 1992 election to the House of Representatives: 300
Note: Elections to the National Assembly were also held on April 25, 1998. The 1998 elections, however, have since been declared invalid.

Population and number of registered voters:

Of Interest:

General ABUBAKAR's military regime is scheduled to hand over governing power to an elected civilian government on May 29, 1999.
The February 20, 1999, National Assembly elections are part of a series of polls in Nigeria, beginning with local elections on December 5, 1998, and culminating with the election for Nigeria's civilian president on February 27, 1999.
The National Assembly elections are being organized and administered by the recently created Independent National Election Commission (INEC).

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES)