Late begins by election officers and technical difficulties with voter ID expertise created delays in some polling centres.
Nigerians are nonetheless voting in a nationwide election in just a few components of the nation the place technical and different glitches prevented voting from happening as scheduled on Saturday.
Vote counting was already below approach in different places through the traditionally tight race between three frontrunners competing for the presidency of Africa’s most populous nation.
Almost 90 million voters have been eligible to vote in Saturday’s election, which was largely peaceable, though remoted violence, delays and technical hitches compelled many to attend till the night, or Sunday, to vote.
After two phrases below President Muhammadu Buhari, many Nigerians hope a brand new chief can do a greater job of tackling the widespread insecurity, joblessness and rising poverty afflicting their nation.
The election pits former Lagos governor and APC candidate Bola Tinubu, 70, in opposition to his outdated rival, former vp and PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar, who at 76 is on his sixth bid for the nation’s high job.
However for the primary time because the finish of navy rule in 1999, a third-party candidate, Labour’s Peter Obi, has challenged the APC and PDP dominance with a marketing campaign message of change.
A number of Lagos polling cubicles have been ransacked on Saturday, in accordance with the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC), voter ID machines have been stolen in different states and voting at 141 polling models in southern Bayelsa State was to happen on Sunday after the poll was disrupted.
Reuters information company reported individuals casting their votes at polling stations in Yenagoa metropolis, in Nigeria’s oil-producing south, on Sunday.
“The entire course of is an absolute mess,” Preye Iti, a 60-year-old civil servant, mentioned earlier than voting in Yenagoa, the place voting couldn't happen in some components on Saturday as a result of election officers and supplies didn't arrive on time.
“I waited from 8:30am to six:30pm yesterday. Now I’m again right here at 8:30am once more.”
In addition to Yenagoa, voting was additionally anticipated to proceed in some components of northeastern Borno state on Sunday, the place voting machines didn't work the day past.
Three-way race
The electoral fee mentioned late on Saturday that election would proceed in a number of wards in Yenagoa and the place there have been circumstances of election officers and supplies failing to show up on Saturday.
It added that official nationwide outcomes could possibly be anticipated late on Sunday. The ultimate election tally is predicted inside 5 days.
Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from Enugu within the southeast, mentioned one of many fundamental points on individuals’s minds is the state of the financial system.
“Issues are comparatively calm all throughout Nigeria,” she mentioned. “Life is difficult as individuals attempt to cope with the excessive price of dwelling. Loads of markets are open now and persons are going about their enterprise, making an attempt to make ends meet, hoping that whoever wins this election will flip across the financial system.”
For Francis Ofungwa, a 23-year-old college pupil, the financial system is “of paramount significance”.
“We're optimistic that when the election outcomes [are announced], the candidates will work on the financial system so it might develop and entice overseas funding in order that there will probably be jobs for the youth,” he instructed Al Jazeera.
The three-way race has some analysts forecasting an unprecedented, second-round run-off between the 2 frontrunners if no candidate emerges as a transparent winner.
To win, a candidate should get probably the most votes but additionally win 25 % in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states.
If no candidate wins, a run-off will happen inside 21 days between two frontrunners.
Voters additionally solid their poll for Nigeria’s two homes of parliament, the Nationwide Meeting and Senate.
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