* President Jonathan faces Buhari in tight race
* Corruption blamed for economic malaise
* Ethnicity, region likely to trump policy for voters
* Election spending funds had already been stockpiled
By Tim Cocks and Julia Payne
LAGOS/ABUJA, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Nigeria is suffering from a plummeting currency, steep budget cuts, corruption scandals and diving oil prices; yet all this is unlikely to decide a tight race for the presidency.
In many other democracies, such turmoil would probably propel the incumbent from office. A likely rise in inflation in Africa's biggest economy is unwelcome for President Goodluck Jonathan, who is seeking re-election on Feb. 14 next year.
But many Nigerians appear willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, while others will vote according to regional, sectarian or ethnic loyalties in the most closely fought election since the end of military rule in 1999.
Jonathan faces main opposition contender, ex-military leader Muhammadu Buhari, with the naira currency devalued 8 percent in the past month and a budget slashed by around 10 percent, both due to a near halving of world oil prices since June.
Yet any undecided voters appear unlikely to be swayed by economic hardship whose immediate cause lies in global markets.
"We are really suffering from the high dollar, but you can't blame President Jonathan for that. He can't control the dollar," said Daniel Ibere, whose sales of electronic goods in Lagos's overcrowded Eko Idumota market dropped when he raised prices.
Buhari is likely to benefit from a perception that Nigeria was ill prepared for the energy price shock because so much revenue from oil, its dominant export earner, has been lost to corruption under Jonathan's administration. He is regarded as a rare example of a graft fighter when president in 1983-85.
"CRYING AND COMPLAINING"
When the central bank devalued the naira last month to save foreign reserves, the impact was felt instantly on the streets. Nigeria imports 80 percent of what it consumes.
"Everyone is crying and complaining," said Ifeanyi Onuchukwu, a clothes wholesaler in the capital Abuja. Onuchukwu tried to raise his prices 10 percent, but the traders wouldn't buy his wares so he suffered losses.
Economist Bismarck Rewane thinks inflation will hit double digits for the first time in two years by January. "That's a difficult situation for Jonathan. You really don't need this two months before an election," he said.
But a bigger headache comes from allegations that billions of dollars of revenue have "leaked" at the state oil firm, according to ex-central bank governor Lamido Sanusi, among others. Jonathan removed Sanusi in February after he made the allegations.