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Nigeria’s president has confirmed he will run in next year’s presidential election, despite widespread anger at his handling of the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram.

President Goodluck Jonathan appeared at a brief ceremony at the headquarters of his Peoples Democratic Party on Thursday, where he collected a nomination form for the party’s presidential ticket.

Jonathan, who will be running for a second term, thanked his supporters and state governors who helped raise the hefty $130,000 nomination fee needed to enter the race.

“Let me thank the leadership of our great party and all members of our party for believing in me,” the leader of Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer said.

Jonathan, who has no opponents in the party’s primaries, is virtually guaranteed a spot on the ballot for February’s poll.

The 56-year-old has come under increasing pressure for his failure to rescue the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram fighters earlier this year.

Protest marches erupted in major Nigerian cities as well as cities in the West calling on Jonathan’s government to do more, which many see as uncaring of the girls’ plight.

Jonathan became Nigeria’s acting president in 2009 and was sworn in as president in 2010 after the death of Umaru Yar’Adua after a long illness. – AFP