T. S. DENISOVA Candidate of Historical Sciences Institute of Africa, Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Nigeria, presidential elections, political leadership, interfaith contradictions, Islamism, terrorism, Boko Haram On March 28, 2015, presidential elections were held in Nigeria, as a result of which a retired Muslim soldier, Mohammadu Buhari, came to power in the largest (by population) country in Africa, replacing Christian Goodluck Jonathan as head of state. This is the first time in Nigeria's history that an incumbent president and a ruling party have lost an election and peacefully handed over the reins of power to the opposition. The elections were held in a difficult economic (due to the fall in world oil prices - the main export product of Nigeria) and political (as a result of the intensification of terrorist activities of the Islamist sect "Boko Haram") environment. The rise of violence in the north - east of the country in the run-up to the elections and the launch of an anti-terrorist operation in February 2015, carried out by the Nigerian army in conjunction with military units from Niger and Cameroon, forced the authorities to postpone the date of voting for presidential candidates from February 14 to March 28, 2015. However, the elections were relatively calm and were recognized by international observers of the EU, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Nations and the Economic Community of West African Countries (ECOWAS) as "transparent and fair".1 According to the results of the vote, in which 29.4 million people participated, the candidate from the opposition Congress of All Progressive Forces party, Mohammad Buhari, received 53.96% of the vote (15.4 million voted for him); the incumbent president, the candidate from the ruling People's Democratic Party (NDP), Goodluck Jonathan, received 44.96% (12.8 million). (The remaining votes went to 12 other contenders. 2) The 2015 electoral campaign in Nigeria was unique in its own way in a number of wa ... Read more