2003 Presidential Election: How Nigerians voted

In his pursuit of a second term as president, Olusegun Obasanjo won the ticket of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) again.

Olusegun Obasanjo was Nigeria's president between 1999 and 2007 ece-auto-gen

After a chaotic reign as a military ruler in the 1980s, Muhammadu Buhari made his first crack at becoming a democratic president, as the flagbearer of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP).

Starting in 2003, Muhammadu Buhari lost three presidential elections before he finally won in 2015 [Bernard Menigault/Alamy] Pulse Nigeria

Decades after leading a civil war to split the southeast region from Nigeria, Odumegwu Ojukwu, looked to the ballot as an option for him to lead the country, as the candidate of the All Progressives' Grand Alliance (APGA).

Odumegwu Ojukwu finished a distant third when he contested for Nigeria's top seat [Daily Post] Pulse Nigeria

For the 2003 presidential election, 60.8 million Nigerians registered to vote, and 42 million (69.1%) voted, with 2.5 million of the votes invalid.

This is how Nigerians voted in each state.

Abia

Buhari — 84,305 (11.3%)

Obasanjo — 386,748 (51.7%)

Ojukwu — 260,899 (34.9%)

Adamawa

Buhari — 285,151 (29.8%)

Obasanjo — 660,780 (69.1%)

Ojukwu — 2,352 (0.2%)

Akwa-Ibom

Buhari — 162,542 (12.6%)

Obasanjo — 1,084,574 (83.9%)

Ojukwu — 1,077 (0.1%)

Anambra

Buhari — 79,476 (9.2%)

Obasanjo — 466,866 (54.1%)

Ojukwu — 279,378 (32.4%)

Bauchi

Buhari — 1,043,442 (62.1%)

Obasanjo — 617,291 (36.7%)

Ojukwu — 1,678 (0.1%)

Bayelsa

Buhari — 18,344 (2.5%)

Obasanjo — 708,312 (96%)

Ojukwu — 3 (0%)

Benue

Buhari — 494,804 (40.8%)

Obasanjo — 662,422 (54.6%)

Ojukwu — 6,731 (0.5%)

Borno

Buhari — 727,595 (65%)

Obasanjo — 380,875 (34%)

Ojukwu — 3,549 (0.3%)

Cross River

Buhari — 11,624 (0.9%)

Obasanjo — 1,207,675 (97.9%)

Ojukwu — 2,112 (0.2%)

Delta

Buhari — 27,492 (2.4%)

Obasanjo — 1,072,527 (94%)

Ojukwu — 15,062 (1.3%)

Ebonyi

Buhari — 16,308 (2%)

Obasanjo — 752,823 (94.5%)

Ojukwu — 20,525 (2.6%)

Edo

Buhari — 109,401 (9.9%)

Obasanjo — 979,775 (88.5%)

Ojukwu — 2,247 (0.2)

Ekiti

Buhari — 7,500 (2.3%)

Obasanjo — 301,185 (92.4%)

Ojukwu — 1,300 (0.4%)

Enugu

Buhari — 18,987 (1.7%)

Obasanjo — 897,721 (79.7%)

Ojukwu — 177,050 (15.7%)

Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

Buhari — 99,220 (38%)

Obasanjo — 130,243 (49.9%)

Ojukwu — 22,481 (8.6%)

Gombe

Buhari — 516,081 (52.9%)

Obasanjo — 452,328 (46.3%)

Ojukwu — 1,601 (0.2%)

Imo

Buhari — 53,983 (5.3%)

Obasanjo — 656,861 (64.6%)

Ojukwu — 281,114 (27.7%)

Jigawa

Buhari — 885,505 (80.4%)

Obasanjo — 202,502 (18.4%)

Ojukwu — 2,136 (0.2%)

Kaduna

Buhari — 870,454 (45.4%)

Obasanjo — 1,025,347 (53.4%)

Ojukwu — 7,800 (0.4%)

Kano

Buhari — 1,628,085 (74.9%)

Obasanjo — 492,755 (22.7%)

Ojukwu — 10,229 (0.5%)

Katsina

Buhari — 1,259,789 (76.2%)

Obasanjo — 380,914 (23%)

Ojukwu — 2,928 (0.2%)

Kebbi

Buhari — 529,512 (65%)

Obasanjo — 272,564 (33.4%)

Ojukwu — 3,888 (0.5%)

Kogi

Buhari — 314,494 (36.4%)

Obasanjo — 528,778 (61.2%)

Ojukwu — 2,275 (0.3%)

Kwara

Buhari — 170,325 (29.6%)

Obasanjo — 390,800 (68%)

Ojukwu — 2,293 (0.4%)

Lagos

Buhari — 116,510 (7.1%)

Obasanjo — 1,129,521 (69.3%)

Ojukwu — 134,764 (8.3%)

Nasarawa

Buhari — 244,005 (33.5%)

Obasanjo — 470,936 (64.6%)

Ojukwu — 1,488 (0.2%)

Niger

Buhari — 390,103 (39.7%)

Obasanjo — 486,621(49.5%)

Ojukwu — 11,849 (1.2%)

Ogun

Buhari — 680 (0.1%)

Obasanjo — 1,360,170 (99.9%)

Ojukwu — 27 (0%)

Ondo

Buhari — 31,994 (3.6%)

Obasanjo — 840,988 (94.6%)

Ojukwu — 4,180 (0.5%)

Osun

Buhari — 14,369 (2.3%)

Obasanjo — 582,089 (95.2%)

Ojukwu — 1,424 (0.2%)

Oyo

Buhari — 25,112 (2.8%)

Obasanjo — 828,725 (93.9%)

Ojukwu — 4,519 (0.5%)

Plateau

Buhari — 324,566 (30.9%)

Obasanjo — 706,432 (67.3%)

Ojukwu — 6,362 (0.6%)

Rivers

Buhari — 42,346 (2%)

Obasanjo — 2,003,521 (92.7%)

Ojukwu — 5,964 (0.3%)

Sokoto

Buhari — 681,153 (73.3%)

Obasanjo — 232,258 (25%)

Ojukwu — 6,869 (0.7%)

Taraba

Buhari — 198,023 (21.9%)

Obasanjo — 694,527 (76.6%)

Ojukwu — 1,179 (0.1%)

Yobe

Buhari — 383,583 (64%)

Obasanjo — 206,984 (34.5%)

Ojukwu — 3,522 (0.6%)

Zamfara

Buhari — 843,159 (80%)

Obasanjo — 200,702 (19%)

Ojukwu — 4,590 (0.4%)

Total

Buhari — 12,710,022 (32.2%)

Obasanjo — 24,456,140 (61.9%) — Winner

Ojukwu — 1,297,445 (3.3%)

*Data sourced from Electoral Geography and African Elections Database due to the absence of verified data from INEC.

ALSO READ: How Nigerians voted in the 1999 presidential election

How Nigerians voted in the 2003 presidential election

Four years after a direct contest between two candidates for Nigeria's biggest political prize, the 2003 presidential election attracted a total of 20 candidates but only three of them fought for the bulk of the votes.

Recommended articles

Abia

Adamawa

Akwa-Ibom

Anambra

Bauchi

Bayelsa

Benue

Borno

Cross River

Delta

Ebonyi

Edo

Ekiti

Enugu

Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

Gombe

Imo

Jigawa

Kaduna

Kano

Katsina

Kebbi

Kogi

Kwara

Lagos

Nasarawa

Niger

Ogun

Ondo

Osun

Oyo

Plateau

Rivers

Sokoto

Taraba

Yobe

Zamfara

Total

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