25″ February “2023” Aljazeera
Vote counting is under way in Nigeria’s tightest presidential election since military rule ended in 1999.
Voting was marred by long delays as polling stations failed to open on time in some areas because of logistical problems and security incidents.
Turnout appeared to be high, with many young, first-time voters arriving before dawn to cast their ballots.
The elections are the biggest democratic exercise in Africa, with 87 million people eligible to vote.
Politics has been dominated by two parties – the ruling APC and the PDP – since the restoration of multi-party democracy 24 years ago.
But this time, there is also a strong challenge from a third-party candidate in the race to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari – the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who is backed by many young people.
Tens of thousands of polling stations are counting the results, which will be collated and sent to the electoral headquarters in the capital Abuja.
The final result is not expected until at least Tuesday.
At a press briefing, the electoral chief, Mahmood Yakubu, apologised for the delays in voting, but he said that everyone who was in a queue by 13:30 GMT (14:30 local time) would be allowed to cast their ballots, even though polling stations were officially supposed to close by then.
Voters in the biggest city, Lagos, cheered as electoral officers arrived at a polling station in the suburb of Lekki nearly four hours after polls had officially closed.
There have also been reports of violence and ballot boxes being snatched in Lagos.
Although some voters were angry at the delays, others waited patiently to vote.
“As a Nigerian you expect any eventuality, so I came out with my power bank and a bottle of water. I will wait till they arrive so I can vote,” first-time voter Edith told the BBC.
Mr Yakubu said that armed men had attacked some polling units in the southern state of Delta and the northern state of Katsina, where voter card verification machines were carted away.
They were subsequently replaced and security boosted to allow voting to take place, he added.
But voting was postponed to Sunday at 141 polling stations in the oil-rich southern state of Bayelsa because of disruptions.
In the north-eastern state of Borno, Mr Yakubu said that militant Islamists had opened fire on electoral officers from a mountain top in the Gwoza area, injuring a number of officials.
Instead, the PDP, which ruled until 2015, wants Nigerians to vote for Mr Abubakar, 76 – the only major candidate from the country’s mainly Muslim north.
He has run for the presidency five times before – all of which he has lost. He has been dogged by accusations of corruption and cronyism, which he denies.
Most of his career has been spent in the corridors of power, having worked as a top civil servant, vice-president and a prominent businessman.
Most people consider the election a referendum on the APC, which has overseen a period of economic hardship and worsening insecurity.
Its candidate, Mr Tinubu, 70, is credited with building Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos, during his two terms as governor until 2007.
He is known as a political godfather in the south-west region, where he wields huge influence, but like Mr Abubakar, has also been dogged by allegations of corruption over the years and poor health, both of which he denies.
A candidate needs to have the most votes and 25% of ballots cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states to be declared the winner
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Elections for the Nigerian presidency and both houses of the federal parliament are being held across the country’s 36 states, in what is set to be the sixth successive civilian-to-civilian transition of power since a return to democracy in 1999.
Eighteen candidates are jostling to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, who steps down as president in May, having served out two four-year terms. But only four are considered frontrunners: Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the leading opposition People’s Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP
“Saturday will be the continent’s largest democratic exercise and one of the largest in the world,” said Stacey Abrams, co-leader of the National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute election mission to Nigeria.
“What happens this weekend will have wide-ranging impacts across the globe,” Abrams, a former US Congress minority leader, told Al Jazeera on Friday.
Key issues at stake include the economy, which has suffered two recessions in four years, and security
Ahead of Saturday’s vote, cash and fuel shortages have been a trending topic nationwide. Insecurity – which the outgoing president had promised to tackle in his election campaigns – remains a serious issue as multiple armed groups continue crusades of terror across at least four of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
More than a third of the total eligible voters in Nigeria – where the median age is 18 – are youths and their voices are expected to make a difference after years of low turnout.
In Onitsha, the commercial hub of the country’s southeast and birthplace of candidate Peter Obi, Ginikachukwu Okafor said she was excited to vote in an election that, for her, should kick-start a new era for Nigeria.
“Our country, Nigeria, is beautiful but our leaders don’t know how to lead,” the 33-year-old smartphone vendor told Al Jazeera in the city’s market, one of the biggest in West Africa
If Nigeria was good, our brothers and sisters won’t be going to other countries to carry drugs. It is not supposed to be so. We have to come out in numbers … to vote for our brother Peter Obi.
There have been calls for stakeholders in the electoral process to allow for a smooth and transparent election, amid concerns about voter suppression, inducement and intimidation.
A national peace accord was signed by all the presidential candidates and political party chairpersons. Organised by the National Peace Committee and the Kukah Leadership Centre, an Abuja-based think tank, the peace accord signing ceremony was attended by multiple former African leaders as well as diplomats
US President Joe Biden applauded the initiative and called for transparency in the electoral process, saying, “All Nigerians deserve this chance to choose their future — freely and fairly.”
Hours after the signing, Oyibo Chukwu, a senate candidate in the southeastern state of Enugu was killed when his convoy was attacked.
Abrams, of the NDI/IRI mission, was present at the peace accord ceremony. She urged all electoral stakeholders to adhere to their pledge “for a safe and peaceful election”. She also called for an investigation into “the assassination” of Chukwu, saying “violence has no place in a democracy”.
Adding to the tension, police caught a Nigerian legislator in a battleground state with almost $500,000 in cash and a distribution list of names, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said.
“Vote buying remains a major threat to our democracy,” Mahmood Yakubu, the head of Nigeria’s election commission, told reporters on Thursday
