Rigging claims fly as Nigeria election results come in vanguardngr.com vanguardnews
Nigeria’s main opposition on Monday accused the ruling party of trying to rig presidential elections as the incumbent cemented a lead, but monitors voiced concern about polling day problems and violence that caused dozens of deaths.
With 12 states declared and counting adjourned until 0900 GMT Tuesday, Buhari was ahead by seven states to five, with 2,976,721 votes to 2,690,616 for former vice-president Atiku Abubakar, of the PDP. The Independent National Electoral Commission blamed logistical difficulties, which were not entirely ironed out by the weekend, forcing voting to go into a second day.The European Union said there were “serious operational shortcomings”, which saw polling units open late, leaving voters waiting for hours with no idea when voting would start.
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”. 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.