Victory of Former Dictator in Nigeria Elections; Congratulations from the African Union

Muhammadu Buhari, the former military dictator of Nigeria, was declared the winner of the presidential election against Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday, April 1st. The African Union congratulated him on his victory. According to the official results of the presidential election count in Africa's most populous country, Mr. Buhari won with a margin of over 2.5 million votes against his opponent, the current President of Nigeria. He secured nearly 54% of the votes. Media and political analysts have described Muhammadu Buhari's victory in this election as 'the first democratic transfer of power' in this African country. Since Nigeria declared its independence in 1960, there have been six military coups in the country, after which Goodluck Jonathan's party held power for 16 years. Muhammadu Buhari, a former army general and 72 years old, established military rule in Nigeria in the 1980s, but now calls himself 'reformed and democratic.' The President of the African Union congratulated Mr. Buhari in an official statement on Wednesday and considered the 2015 elections as 'a sign of the maturity of democracy' in Nigeria. Muhammadu Buhari, who had previously run for the presidency three times, increased his chances of winning this time by forming a coalition of major opposition parties. While the electoral competition was disrupted due to violent activities of the Islamist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, voter turnout on the past Sunday was significant. Sixty million people were eligible to vote in the Nigerian elections.