Analysts had predicted that the election would be marred by violence like that following the presidential poll in 2011, which Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator and candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), lost to the PDP’s Goodluck Jonathan. The mainly Muslim northern part of the country – Buhari’s home base – was convulsed by anarchy and bloodshed as thugs and hooligans took to the streets, attacking Christians and non-northerners, whom they accused of voting for Jonathan.