- By Nduka Orjinmo
- BBC News, Abuja
February 25, 2023
Updated 40 minutes ago
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Some people waited outside their polling stations all night for the results to be announced
The first results are expected later from Nigeria’s closest elections since the end of military rule in 1999.
However, after widespread delays and some attacks on polling stations on Saturday, voting was pushed back to Sunday in parts of the country.
Elsewhere, voting continued into the night.
Voter turnout appears to be high, particularly among young people, who make up about a third of the 87 million eligible voters.
This makes it the largest democratic exercise in Africa.
The election presented an unprecedented challenge to the two-party system that has ruled Nigeria for 24 years.
Peter Obi of the relatively unknown Labor Party, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are potential winners. There are 15 other presidential candidates.
Saturday’s vote was marred by long delays at polling stations, as well as isolated reports of ballot box robberies and attacks by gunmen.
dr Nkem Okoli was about to vote in the Lekki district of the largest city, Lagos, when masked men attacked the polling station.
“There was chaos. Bottles were flying everywhere,” she told the BBC. “They broke [the ballot box]. They stole the officers’ phones. We can’t vote now.”
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Nigerian Election Sentiment in 60 Seconds
In at least five states, voting did not begin until around 6 p.m. local time in some places – three and a half hours after the polling stations closed.
There is tension in parts of Rivers and Lagos states, where some political parties have asked their members to go to vote-collecting centers to prevent tampering.
There were also complaints about the use of the recently introduced electronic voting system, with many voters accusing polling officials of refusing to upload results to polling stations as intended.
However, in areas where voting went smoothly, the results are posted outside the individual polling stations.
These results from tens of thousands of polling stations across the country are then added together. An electoral body official in each of Nigeria’s 36 states will then travel to the capital, Abuja, where state-by-state results will be announced, with the first announcements expected later on Sunday.
Final results are not expected until Monday at the earliest, possibly as late as Wednesday.
At a press conference on Saturday, election chief Mahmood Yakubu apologized for the delay in voting.
Mr. Yakubu also said gunmen had attacked some polling stations in southern Delta state and northern Katsina state, where voter card verification equipment had been carted away.
They were then replaced and security increased to allow voting, he added.
In northeastern Borno state, Mr Yakubu said Islamist militants opened fire on election officials from a mountaintop in the Gwoza region, injuring several officers.
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Each ballot is carefully checked
The run-up to the election was marred by a cash shortage caused by a botched attempt to rebalance the currency, leading to widespread bank and ATM chaos as desperate people sought access to their money.
The new banknotes were introduced to combat inflation and vote-buying. On the eve of the election, a member of the House of Representatives was arrested with nearly $500,000 (£419,000) in cash and a list of people to give it to, police say.
Whoever wins must grapple with a collapsing economy, high youth unemployment and widespread insecurity that has killed 10,000 people in the past year.
Voters also cast their votes for 109 federal senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives, with another vote for state governors in March.
Who are the main candidates?
Mr Obi, 61, enjoys strong support from some sections of Nigerian youth, particularly in the south.
Although he was previously in the PDP, he is considered a relatively fresh face. The wealthy businessman was governor of the southeastern state of Anambra from 2006 to 2014. His supporters, known as the “OBIdients,” say he is the only candidate with integrity, but his critics argue a vote for him is wasted because one of the two traditional parties is more likely to win.
Instead, the PDP, which ruled until 2015, wants Nigerians to vote for Mr Abubakar, 76 – the only major candidate from the country’s mainly Muslim north.
He has run for the presidency five times and lost everything. He has been dogged by corruption and cousin allegations, which he denies.
He has spent most of his career in the corridors of power, having worked as a senior civil servant, vice president, and prominent businessman.
Most people see the election as a referendum on the APC, which has weathered a period of economic hardship and rising uncertainty.
His nominee, Mr Tinubu, 70, is credited with building Nigeria’s commercial center Lagos during his two terms as governor until 2007.
He is known as a political godfather in the south-west region, where he wields great influence, but like Mr Abubakar, he has also been dogged by allegations of corruption over the years and ill health, both of which he denies.
A candidate must have the most votes and 25% of the ballots cast in two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states to be declared the winner.
Otherwise, there will be a runoff within 21 days – a first in Nigeria’s history.
Additional coverage from BBC teams across the country.