It is being labelled the tightest presidential election in Africa’s maximum populous nation because the finish of the army rule in 1999.
Vote counting is below approach in Nigeria and turnout looked to be top. It may just take days till the general, professional result’s introduced.
Marred via lengthy delays at polling stations, in addition to scattered stories of poll field snatching and assaults via armed males, some pissed off Nigerians solid their ballots with flashlights whilst others stood watch at their polling stations as counting were given below approach overdue Saturday amid fears of vote tampering.
Election officers blamed the delays on logistical problems, despite the fact that different observers pointed to the upheaval created via a redesigned forex that has left many not able to procure financial institution notes. The money scarcity affected shipping no longer just for electorate but additionally election employees and law enforcement officials offering safety.
Voting ended well past agenda in lots of puts after delays however some have been nonetheless vote casting in a couple of spaces the place the workout stretched into the evening. In the northwest Bauchi state, Lagos-based Channels TV reported that electorate have been nonetheless vote casting the usage of their torchlights at round 9 pm.
And in Abuja and Delta state, electorate caught round to observe the method and make sure the effects weren’t tampered with.
“Nightfall has come — anything can happen (now),” Torke Ezekiel mentioned after casting his poll.
While there have been fears of violence on Election Day, from Islamic militants within the north to separatists within the south vote casting was once in large part non violent Saturday despite the fact that a dramatic scene opened up within the megacity of Lagos within the mid-afternoon.
Mahmood Yakubu, head of Nigeria’s election fee, mentioned nationwide collation of leads to the presidential election would begin at midday on Sunday. In 2019, the winner of the presidential election was once introduced 4 days after the vote casting day.
“We are making very steady progress and we will continue to ensure that nothing truncates our democracy or truncates the will of the Nigerian people,” mentioned Yakubu, the election leader.
However, Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a world chance intelligence corporate, mentioned vote casting “has been very complicated for Nigerians.”
There were “popular court cases about late-arriving officers, nonfunctioning machines, low presence of safety and assaults on polling stations,” he added.
Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two four-year phrases in Nigeria, a West African nation the place unemployment has soared to 33% at the same time as one of the vital continent’s most sensible oil manufacturers.
Out of the sector of 18 presidential applicants, 3 front-runners emerged in contemporary weeks: the candidate from Buhari’s ruling occasion, the principle opposition occasion candidate and a third-party challenger who has drawn sturdy beef up from more youthful electorate.
But it remained unclear what number of electorate have been deterred on account of the money disaster, which has left Nigerians with price range of their financial institution accounts not able to procure the money they want for such things as fuel and taxis.
