At stake in this election:

• 109 seats in the Senate
• 360 seats in the House of Representatives

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Chief of State General Abdulsalami ABUBAKAR
• Head of Government: Command in Chief of the Armed Forces General Abdulsalam ABUBAKAR
• Assembly: Nigeria has a bicameral National Assembly consisting of the Senate with 109 seats and the House of Representatives with 360 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The Chief of State is elected by popular vote to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Senate 109 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 4-year terms. In the House of Representatives 360 members are elected by direct popular vote to serve 4-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: People's Democratic Party (PDP)
  • Leader: Olusegun OBASANJO, Solomon LAR, Alex EKWUEME
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: All People's Party (APP)
  • Leader: Mahmud WAZIRI
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A
• Party: Alliance for Democracy (AD)***
  • Leader: Solomon Oluyemi FALAE
  • Seats won in last Senate election: N/A
  • Seats won in last House of Representatives election: N/A

*** In July 1998, General ABUBAKAR announced the dissolution of the five political parties recognized by the previous government of General ABACHA. To meet eligibility requirements for the February 1999 National Assembly elections, a party must have received at least five percent of the votes cast in 24 of the 36 federal states in the December 5, 1998, local government elections.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Legislative elections were last hel on July 4, 1992.
  -Seats decided in the 1992 election to the Senate: 90
  -Seats decided in the 1992 election to the House of Representatives: 300
  Note: Elections to the National Assembly were also held on April 25, 1998. The 1998 elections, however, have since been declared invalid.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 119,826,231 (1999)
• Registered Voters: 57,938,945 (1999)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 59,185,740 (1999)

·         Is Nigeria a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (23 April 1984)

·         Has Nigeria ratified CEDAW: Yes (13 June 1985)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 12 (House of Representatives); 3 (Senate) following the 1999 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 152 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Nigeria a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Nigeria ratified CRPD: Yes (24 September 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 17,973,934 (est.)