NEC endorses Buhari for second term

ABUJA: The national executive committee (NEC) of Nigeria’s ruling party has endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari to seek a second term in an election next year, two senior party sources said yesterday.

Buhari, who took office in May 2015, has not yet said whether he intends to seek re-election. The 75-year-old leader spent five months on medical leave in Britain last year for an unspecified ailment, raising questions about his ability to run Africa’s most populous nation.

The NEC of the president’s All Progressives Congress (APC) party, which takes decisions on the party’s direction, held a one-day meeting which concluded late on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the president could not immediately be reached for comment.

Nigeria’s political parties must select their candidates for the 2019 presidential election between August 18 and October 7 this year. Presidential and parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on February 16, 2019.