General News

Hope, fear as Nigerians await results of presidential vote

Date: Mar 30, 2015

Nigerians waited in hope and fear on Monday for results of a presidential election in which voting was relatively smooth nationwide despite technical glitches, deadly attacks by Islamic extremists and allegations of political thuggery in some areas.

The winner of the vote in Africa's most populous and richest nation could be announced late Monday or on Tuesday, electoral officials said. The race between President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator Muhammadu Buhari was too close to call, according to analysts.

While there are fears that violence could erupt once results are  announced, one radio station played a reconciliation song written by entertainment star 2Face Idibia in Nigeria's colloquial English:  "Vote not fight; Election no be war!"

Police in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil capital, fired tear gas Monday morning to disperse thousands of women supporters of the opposition coalition who demanded the cancellation of the election in Rivers state.

The opposition is demanding new elections in the southern states of Rivers and Akwa Ibom, alleging irregularities that include missing and false results sheets and electoral officials being replaced by government officials loyal to Jonathan. The national election commission said it is investigating numerous complaints.

Observers for the African Union said Sunday night that the weekend voting was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere and "largely meets the continental and regional principles of democratic elections."

Jonathan, 57, is a Christian from a minority tribe in the lush oil-producing south and 72-year-old Buhari is a Muslim from the semi-arid north that is home to farmers and cattle herders.

After Buhari lost to Jonathan in 2011, more than 1,000 people died and some 65,000 were forced from their homes in northern riots, according to the National Human Rights Commission.

There was a high turnout among the nearly 60 million people who had cards to vote in an election that for the first time offers the possibility of a challenger defeating a sitting president.

Voters also are electing legislators for parliament, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan's party in the House of Assembly. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers.

Dozens of legislators defected from Jonathan's party to a new opposition coalition that has transformed Nigeria's political landscape by uniting behind one candidate for the first time.

Detractors accuse Jonathan of being ineffectual and Buhari of being anti-democratic.

Jonathan's party has governed since decades of military dictatorship ended in 1999.

Some progress has been made - a nearly 20 percent boost in manufacturing and a mini agricultural revolution tripling production of some basics like rice - but corruption is endemic and  the vast majority of Nigeria's 170 million people are poor.

Among them are residents of the Niger Delta that produces petroleum, the cornerstone of the economy. The government has done little to improve the lot of hundreds of thousands living with the consequences of more than half a century of careless oil production that has polluted mangrove swamps and farmlands, destroying the livelihoods of fishermen and farmers.

The elections come as Nigeria's military, backed by armies from neighboring countries, has announced major victories over home-grown Boko Haram Islamic extremists after months of defeats.

On the political front, supporters of both sides are threatening  violence if their candidate does not win, with militants in the Niger Delta saying there will be "all-out war" if Jonathan loses. Opposition leaders say Jonathan paid off former oil militants just weeks before the election, but a presidential adviser, Reuben Abati, said money was paid as part of a government contract requiring the ex-fighters to guard oil installations they once attacked.

The Niger Delta militants started as gangs paid by politicians to steal elections. So did some of the fighters who now belong to Boko Haram, which last month pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group controlling parts of Syria and Iraq.

Buhari two years ago demanded the government offer the same paid-off amnesty to Boko Haram, but since has said he will use his long military background to defeat the insurgents.

--Sapa-AP--

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