LAGOS - Appealing to Nigeria's youth to come out and vote, outsider candidate Peter Obi on Saturday rallied thousands of supporters in Lagos in his last stage of campaigning before this month's presidential election.
Chanting "Obi, Obi, we will follow you", crowds danced to Afrobeats stars on stage in a Lagos sports stadium, blowing plastic horns and waving flags for a candidate promising a "new Nigeria".
Obi, 61, has emerged as the first third party candidate to challenge the dominance of Nigeria's ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party and main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who between them have governed since the end of military rule in 1999.
Nearly 100 million will vote on February 25 in Africa's most populous nation to chose the successor to President Muhammadu Buhari, who steps down after two terms with Nigeria struggling with widespread insecurity and economic malaise.
Former southeast Anambra state governor, Obi has captured the interest of many young voters with a campaign offering hope for change from the patronage politics and old guard candidates fielded by the mainstream parties.
"When we win the election, it is the beginning of a new Nigeria," he told the crowd. "We are not going to change everything overnight... I assure you what we will do here nobody will believe it. Hold us responsible."
Some polls show Obi leading, but analysts say the wealthy businessmen faces a challenge to win over enough voters in the mostly Muslim north, a key block of ballots that helps determine Nigeria's election.
To win the presidency, candidates must garner the most ballots and also 25 percent of the votes in two thirds of the country's states.
Nigeria is almost equally split between the mostly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south with three main ethnic groups, Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, and hundreds of local languages across the country.
Election campaigns in the past often featured candidates appealing to their ethnic base to win over voters.
- National structure -
Critics say the Labour Party does not have the national structure and the state governors to help mobilise voters to get Obi elected across the country's geographic spread.
But after eight years under Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) party, with poverty on the rise and insecurity, mass kidnapping and criminal militia gangs rife, many Nigerians says they are looking for a change.
The race has emerged into a potential tight, three-way challenge.
"He is the only one who tells the truth. Here, we only had two parties for so many years, so now we want someone different," said David Sunday, 30, a food trader who voted twice before for PDP candidates.
"Obi is like our future and we went our country back."
APC has fielded former Lagos governor Bola Tinubu, 70, known as the "Godfather of Lagos" for his political influence.
PDP's candidate is Atiku Abubakar, 76, a former vice president and businessman who boasts his experience to be able to "rescue" Nigeria. He is on his sixth run at the presidency.
Both tout their past government experience and have brushed off past allegations of corruption.
Since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria's elections have often been marred by violence, delays, logistical problems and vote buying accusations.
Electoral authorities have expressed concerns insecurity, fuel shortages and even a shortfall of cash in banks may hinder organisation of the presidential ballot.