ABUJA/MAIDUGURI: Nigeria began counting votes in Saturday’s closely-fought presidential election although the electoral commission extended voting hours in some places where polling stations opened late or ballot machines malfunctioned.
President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger, businessman Atiku Abubakar, both said they were confident of victory when casting their ballots in an election which has already been delayed by a week.
Analysts say the vote in Africa’s biggest economic power is too close to call, with the outcome set to hinge on which man voters trust the most to revamp an economy still struggling to recover from a 2016 recession.
Buhari, a former military ruler who was later elected president, is seeking a second term in charge of Africa’s most populous nation and top crude producer. Atiku, a former vice president, has pledged to expand the role of the private sector.
The two men lead a field of more than 70 candidates in an election which the commission postponed last Saturday just hours before voting was due to begin, citing logistical issues.
Voting had been completed in some areas across Nigeria and counting of ballots was taking place, Reuters witnesses said. Senior Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official Festus Okoye said the commission had extended hours in polling stations that had experienced delays.
He also said problems encountered during the voting, including security issues, were being addressed. These included malfunctioning of voter card machines which would be replaced.
“We are on top of the situation and we are confident that as we progress in this particular election, most of the issues that arisen relating to this particular election will be addressed,” Okoye said. The country has 72.8 million eligible voters.
Buhari, who voted in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina, said: “I will congratulate myself, I’m going to be the winner” when asked by reporters if he would congratulate his rival, should Atiku win the election.
Atiku later cast his ballot in the eastern Adamawa state.
“I am impressed by the turnout of the people,” he told reporters shortly after voting. “I look forward to a successful transition,” he said.
Voting officially began at 8 am and was due to close at 2 pm but Kingsley Moghalu, a presidential candidate for the Young Progressives Party, said he had only managed to vote at noon in the southeastern state of Anambra. He said polls opened two hours late and machines to read voting cards were not working. “If as a presidential candidate my polling unit can be treated in this manner, I can imagine what a lot of Nigerians are going through in many parts of the country,” he said. — Reuters
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