High turnout in N. Nigeria despite Boko Haram threats

By Olarewaju Kola, Ogbodo Ndidi and Muhammad Tijjani

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria 

Despite Boko Haram threats, millions of voters, including internally displaced persons, defied the scorching sun in Nigeria's restive north and walked long distances to vote in the general elections on Saturday.

"I was accredited as soon as the process commenced at about 8:15am and went back home," Abubakar Saliu, a voter in Maiduguri, the provincial capital of the Borno State, told The Anadolu Agency.

"I came back four hours later not minding the hot sun to vote," he asserted.

Saliu said he had walked from his residence after accreditation to return to an IDPs camp, some two kilometers away, where he cast his ballot.

Voting went on smoothly with no incident of violence in Borno where Boko Haram had been carrying out attacks for nearly six years.

Voting ended in several polling units at about 4pm local time while counting started immediately.

Voting continues elsewhere in the state nonetheless.

Nigerians are elected a new president and parliament.

Voting is taking place at 119, 973 polling centers across the country and will end after the last accredited voter had cast his/her ballot.

Nigeria has a total of 68,833,476 registered voters, down from 73.5 million four years ago. The reduction has been attributed to the recent elimination of double registration.  

Only 56,431,255 eligible voters (some 82 percent of the total) have obtained PVCs, without which voters cannot cast ballots.

Fourteen parties are fielding candidates in the presidential poll, all of whom – with one exception – are male.

The race is largely between Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has ruled the country since 1999, and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running on the ticket of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of political interests.

Credible

Abdul Haruna, another resident of Maiduguri, said the use of card reader had slowed down the voting.

"It's not as if the card reader is perfect," he told AA.

"In fact, it slowed down accreditation and voting but the good thing is that it also helped to reduce election malpractices," said Haruna.

Senator Ali Ndume, who represents Borno south in the Senate, said the use of card reader brought credibility to the poll.

"There is credibility in the poll and the electoral body should be commended," he told AA after voting.

"The card reader has proved to be reliable and the process can be better off in subsequent polls," said Ndume.

He also commended the "resilience of displaced persons for defiling all odds to come out for voting."

But voter accreditations had been delayed for hours in many parts of the country over the malfunction of the readers.

This has prompted the independent election commission to authorize the use of the old manual accreditation system.

Turn-out

Samuel Madaki Usman, the resident electoral commissioner, said a total of 1.4 million voters took part in the exercise in Borno State alone.

Many IDPs came out for voting at most of the polling units.

The emir of Gwoza, a town that Boko Haram had used as the headquarters of its self-styled "Islamic caliphate" in northeastern Nigeria until being liberated by the Nigerian army on Friday, said elections in the northeast states were largely peaceful.

"[People] are not scared, they are willing and ready to vote," Muhammadu Shehu Timta told journalists in Maiduguri.

"They are conducting themselves well and I can assure you we will have peaceful election," he added.

At least 25 people were killed and five injured in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants in Borno's Buratai.

Nine people were feared killed in an early morning attack by suspected Boko Haram gunmen in Gombe Sate.

Boko Haram had threatened to disrupt the general election in a video by its leader Abubakar Shekau.

But massive turnouts have been reported in Adamawa, Yobe and Gombe states.

"We are still voting here in Yola. The queue is still long because accreditation didn't start in time," Usmanu Aliyu, a voting agent for the opposition APC, told AA.

The same was confirmed by his PDP counterpart Adamu Na'allah.

In Kano, AA correspondent observed that accreditation was still ongoing as at 5:50pm local time when voting ought to have ended.

"Here at polling booths at FCE Kano, we are still accrediting. Voting has not stared," Naziru khaeru, a voter, told AA.

There were massive turnouts in Kano which has a little over 5 million voters who had collected their PVCs.

Voting commenced in most of the polling units in Bauchi State around 2:00pm.

Federal Capital Territory Minster Bala Mohammed cast his vote at Jubril Aminu Primary school in Bauchi.

He expressed satisfaction over the voting process and commended the large turnout in the state.

Ahmadu Musa, who cast his ballot at Kasuwa Kudu polling unit in Azare, Katagum local government, said people wanted change.

"We are here since 6am because we want a new government that will bring back peace in the north east region," he told AA.

"Our region has bedeviled with insecurity which has led to death of thousands of people so we are here to vote for Baba Buhari because we believe he will bring the insecurity in the region to an end," Musa said, referring to the opposition candidate.

"We also believe he will solve the poverty and unemployment in the country when voted into power," he contended.

Counting begins as voting continues in Nigeria

Polling units closed and counting begins late Saturday in many parts of Nigeria, while voting continued in others.

"At polling unit 007 here at Lokoja Government Secondary, we counted and announced the result before all the agents and they all signed," Odiah Elizabeth, a polling officer in north central Kogi State, told The Anadolu Agency by phone.

David Ayilara, another polling officer at Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos State, said voting ended at around 5pm and that they have also announced results.

"The next stage is the ward collation center," he told AA when asked about the result. "Pictures will be getting clearer only from ward or local government levels."

Voting was still continuing in other parts of the country over delays in the voter accreditation, largely over the malfunction of the newly used electronic voter card readers.

Millions of Nigerians went to the polls Saturday to elect a new president and parliament.

A total of 56,431,255 eligible voters were casting their ballot at 119, 973 polling centers across the country.

Fourteen parties are fielding candidates in the presidential poll, all of whom – with one exception – are male.

The race is largely between Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has ruled the country since 1999, and Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler who is running on the ticket of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), an amalgam of political interests.

Nigerians are also electing 360 House of Representatives members and 109 senators.

The law empowers the polling official to count and announce results at the polling unit level.

Results trickling out at the polling units so far put the APC at a very good advantage across much of the southwest and the north where voting has ended.

Results at this stage hardly determine the final outcome because collations at ward, local and state levels may turn the tide.

Final reults are expected late Sunday or Monday.

The winner of the presidential race must clinch more than 50 percent of all valid votes plus a mandatory 25 percent in two-thirds of the country's 36 states.

If no candidate is able to win outright, the two frontrunners will compete for a simple majority in a runoff vote.

Aggrieved parties have 30 days from the election to legally challenge final poll results.