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Nigerians out in force for presidential vote
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By Nick Tattersall
ABUJA (Reuters) - Tens of millions of Nigerians voted on Saturday in what they hope will be their first credible presidential election for decades, polls which could set an example in Africa and cement their emergence from...
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Accounts of voting from around Nigeria
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Voters queue to cast their ballots at Daura, in Katsina state in northern Nigeria, April 16, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde
By Nick Tattersall
ABUJA |
Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:41am EDT
ABUJA (Reuters) - Tens of millions of Nigerians voted on Saturday in what they hope will be their first credible presidential election for decades, polls which could set an example in Africa and cement their emergence from military rule.
From the tin-roofed shacks of the Niger Delta, where front-runner President Goodluck Jonathan voted, to the dusty alleyways of Daura, the northern village of his main rival, ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, voters came out en masse.
Across most of the country of 150 million there was little sign of the chaos and violence that has dogged past elections although two bombs panicked voters in the troubled northeastern city of Maiduguri. There were no reports of casualties.
Voters in the sprawling commercial hub of Lagos, where many polling stations finished early, stayed on to watch the count, shouting out the total as polling agents tallied the ballots.
"The politicians should know if they don't perform they are going to be voted out...The electorate now know we have the power to chose our leaders," said businessman Ahibuogwu Brian among the populous lagoon-side shanties of Makoko.
The polls pit Jonathan, the first head of state from the oil-producing Niger Delta, against Buhari, a northern Muslim with a reputation as a disciplinarian.
The African giant, home to more people than Russia, has failed to hold a free and fair presidential election since military rule ended in 1999, leaving many of its citizens with little faith in the benefits of democracy.
But a relatively successful parliamentary election a week ago, deemed credible by observers despite isolated acts of violence, has renewed voter confidence. Turnout appeared to be much higher than for the parliamentary election.
"There is no mago mago," said local election observer Agu Michael, 42, using the Yoruba expression for trickery in Lagos, Nigeria's biggest city. Market women took advantage of the swelling crowd to sell boiled plantain bananas and meat stew.
There were reports of underage voting and attempts at ballot-stuffing in some areas. In the northern state of Bauchi irate youths torched an electoral commission office after officials were allegedly found thumb printing ballot papers.
"There are concerns that need to be addressed, but overall this is much better than the past," said Clement Nwankwo, head of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center (PLAC) in Abuja, working with more than 20 civil society groups to monitor the vote.
"We have not seen large-scale reports of malpractice, nor of collusion between electoral officials and politicians."
GOODLUCK AND PATIENCE
President Jonathan, a former zoology teacher born to a family of canoe makers, is the favorite. He is backed by the national machinery of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), whose candidate has won every presidential race since 1999.
"Nigeria is now experiencing the true democracy, where we the politicians have to go to the people," said Jonathan, voting with his wife Patience and his mother before leaving in a motorcade through cheering crowds.
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