Nigeria’s Risky Business

Nigeria’s Risky Business

Nigeria's president and his challenger in hotly-contested elections are blaming each other for a Eurasia Group report that listed their country as among the world's top risks for 2019.

The report detailed Nigeria's "intractable problems," and said presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, would "focus on enriching himself and his cronies" should he triumph. The report also called President Muhammadu Buhari "politically weak," "elderly" and "infirm." Both camps reportedly claimed the report was paid for by the opposing party. But a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari went further, asking the New York-based organization to produce a medical report of the president to verify its findings. "If that group does not publish an authenticated medical report along with their report, they should hide their head in shame," Buhari Campaign spokesman Festus Keyamo reportedly said. Nigerians head to the polls on February 16 in their country's most fiercely sought after elections since the transition to democracy in 1999.

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