Voting in Nigeria’s tensest election since the end of military rule in 1999 spilled into a second day yesterday after technical glitches hit voter ID machines and Islamist Boko Haram militants killed more than a dozen people in drive-by shootings.
The race pits president Goodluck Jonathan against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari amid an electorate divided along a complex mix of ethnic, regional and in some cases religious lines.
The poll is seen as the first election in Africa’s most populous nation in which an opposition candidate has a serious chance of unseating the incumbent, and widespread fears it could trigger violence are already becoming reality.
Islamist insurgents launched several attacks on voters in the northeast on election day, killing three in Yobe state and 11 in neighbouring Gombe, including an opposition parliamentary candidate.
Voting at the 120,000 stations nationwide – which will process 56.7 million votes – was beset with problems from the start. Officials turned up late and biometric card readers – introduced to prevent the vote-rigging that has marred previous polls – failed to work.
Even Mr Jonathan suffered a 40-minute delay as officials tried to get four machines to recognise his fingerprint.
“I’m very hopeful,” he said of his chances after voting.
Mr Buhari and Mr Jonathan have appealed for calm and signed a “peace accord” on the eve of the vote, but many Nigerians still fear a repeat of the post-election violence that erupted in 2011, when 800 people died in the mainly Muslim north after a Buhari defeat, also to Mr Jonathan. – (Reuters)