1979 Nigerian Presidential Election
The twelve two-thirds election11 August 1979 · The Second Republic
Under the 1979 constitution, in order to be elected president on the first ballot a candidate needed to receive both the most votes nationwide and at least 25% of the vote in two-thirds of the states. However, at the time of the election, Nigeria had nineteen states, two-thirds of which in exact figures is 12.66.
President before
Olusegun Obasanjo
Elected President
Elected President
Shehu Shagari
NPN
Winning share
33.8%
Turnout
—
The result
Shehu Shagari
National Party of Nigeria · 5,688,857 votes
33.77%
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Obafemi Awolowo
Unity Party of Nigeria · 4,916,551 votes
29.18%
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Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nigerian People's Party · 2,822,523 votes
16.75%
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Aminu Kano
People's Redemption Party · 1,732,113 votes
10.28%
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Waziri Ibrahim
Great Nigeria People's Party · 1,686,489 votes
10.01%
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