Nigeria's presidential frontrunners in final push for votes in election

leading contenders in Nigeria's presidential election have made their last push for support, a week before the West African nation's key election.

As the campaign period neared its end, both the ruling party's Bola Tinubu and the main opposition's Atiku Abubakar on Saturday held rallies in the northeast, where extremists have waged a decadelong insurgency against Nigeria. They both promised to improve the lives of residents in the region.

On social media, thirdparty candidate Peter Obi, who has emerged ahead of the other 17 candidates in most polls, said Africa's most populous country needs a “reset and reboot” from the two major parties that have governed Nigeria since it left military rule in 1999.

The Feb. 25 election that would lead to a transitional government is the most consequential vote in many years for Nigeria, a country of more than 210 million people, according to analysts.

“This is a battle for the soul of the country considering the challenges confronting the country,” said Idayat Hassan, who leads the Center for Democracy and Development that promotes democracy in the country.

Nigeria is struggling with a worsening security crisis that has killed thousands in the past year, an ailing economy that has made citizens poorer, and growing separatist agitations in the southern region that have left the country more divided along ethnic lines.

“This is where the future of our state and the country resides — in the hands of PDP,” the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party's Abubakar told thousands of supporters in Adamawa state as they waved the party's red, green and white colours.