President Muhammadu Buhari, flanked by his wife Aisha Buhari, casts his
vote at a polling station in his hometown Daura in Katsina State,
northwest Nigeria, on February 23, 2019. PHOTO | PIUS UTOMI EKPEI | AFP
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari scored early gains on Monday
in his bid for re-election after dozens died in weekend violence and
monitors voiced concern about polling-day problems.
The
76-year-old candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)
party won 57 percent of the vote in the southwestern state of Ekiti, the
first to announce its results.
Buhari also won in
neighbouring Osun state but he was run close by main challenger Atiku
Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winning by just over
10,000 votes.
A total of 72.7 million people with voter
identity cards were eligible to cast their ballot in Saturday's polls.
Parliamentary elections were held at the same time.
The
election — the sixth in the 20 years since Nigeria returned to
democracy after decades of military rule —was held on Saturday, a week
after a last-gasp postponement.
The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) blamed logistical difficulties,
which were not entirely ironed out by this weekend, forcing voting to go
into a second day.
The Situation Room umbrella group of over 70 civil society
organisations observing the vote, called for an inquiry into what it
said was INEC's "poor management" of the process.
It
highlighted lapses in logistics, technology and security and said INEC
had "not managed the election efficiently and significant shortcomings
have been recorded".
"The election has been a step back
from the 2015 General Election and actions should be taken to identify
what has gone wrong and what can be corrected," it added.
Delays
The
head of the African Union observer mission, Ethiopia's former prime
minister Hailemariam Desalegn, also said they were concerned "by the
pattern of consistent postponement".
Elections were
delayed by six weeks in 2015 on security grounds linked to the military
counter-insurgency against Boko Haram Islamists in the country's remote
northeast.
In 2011, voting was stopped even after it had started, again because of problems delivering ballot papers and other materials.
Hailemariam said the latest postponement had "implications for citizens' participation and turnout".
The
National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute
said: "Last-minute election postponements should not become the norm in
Nigeria."
It was "highly probably" voter turn-out had
been affected, it said, adding: "Most significantly, the delay also
undermined public confidence in INEC."
The election
took place against a backdrop of fears about security across the
country, as well as claims from both parties that the other was looking
to rig the result.
Neither produced evidence but INEC
chairman Mahmood Yakubu on Sunday said there were reports of
ballot-snatching, vote-buying and violence.
One
election volunteer was killed by a stray bullet in the southern state of
Rivers, where some INEC staff and even police were held hostage before
being released unharmed.
Other election staff were attacked in the southern state of Akwa Ibom and Kogi in the north central region.
The
Situation Room, which had some 8,000 monitors on the ground, said "at
least 39 Nigerians" were killed in election-related violence on Saturday
and Sunday.
Worst-affected was Rivers, where 16 people
were killed. Six other people lost their lives in the neighbouring
states of Bayelsa and Delta, in the oil-rich Niger delta region.
Previously,
analysts SBM Intelligence said 233 people were killed in 67 incidents
of election-related violence from last October to Friday -- an average
of two people per day.
The Situation Room highlighted
reports that just over a quarter of the nearly 120,000 polling units
were under-policed, and said there were "shortfalls and gaps" in
security elsewhere.
At least six states saw disruption
in polling. In the Okoto area of the country's biggest city, Lagos,
voters were chased away and ballot boxes were destroyed.
In Osun state, ballot papers and boxes were destroyed at the local INEC office.
There
were also reports of some "partisan" security officials, "compromised"
INEC staff and incidents involving the military, including blocking some
voters.
Police said separately that 128 people had
been arrested across the country for electoral offences, including
murder, vote-buying and ballot box snatching.
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