NIGERIA: POLITICS - Presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari casts his ballot in the country's presidential elections

Record ID: 234659

  • Title: NIGERIA: POLITICS - Presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari casts his ballot in the country's presidential elections
  • Date: 17th April 2011
  • Summary: POLLING STAFF LOOKING THROUGH VOTER REGISTRY FOR BUHARI'S NAME
  • Embargoed: 2nd May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6DTPDDRT9Y454UQOGHNKO9XZT
  • Story Text: Tens of millions of Nigerians voted on Saturday (April 16) 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.
    The polls pit president Goodluck Jonathan, the first head of state from the oil-producing Niger Delta, against Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim with a reputation as a disciplinarian.
    Ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari voted in his northern village of Daura.
    A strict Muslim known for his "War Against Indiscipline", Buhari is hoping to capitalise on some of the resentment and is likely to win strong northern support despite his Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) being a young party.
    The former general told Reuters he feared the ruling party was trying to manipulate the vote out of desperation
    "We are getting a lot of information about people intercepting already some printed voters cards in different parts of the country. And if we go by the casualties and the violence in the president's home state, this time around the level of desperation by the ruling party is really worrysome."
    The stakes are higher in the presidential race than the parliamentary election and the security agencies are on high alert. Land borders were closed and a curfew imposed overnight.
    Buhari said president Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) had taken voters for granted and it was likely the party would lose heavily in the polls.
    "I think it is having a tremendous influence on the Nigerian masses. I don't know whether the government realises it or not because the stance people are making now which is reflecting on the last Saturday's elections, people are not going to take lightly what happened in 2003 and 2007. And I hope the ruling party will see the signal."
    Buhari would need to prevent Jonathan from taking at least a quarter of the votes in two thirds of the 36 states if he is to stop him winning in the first round, a feat which northern support alone is unlikely to guarantee.
    Fellow opposition contender Nuhu Ribadu's Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party has its stronghold in the southwest, and could help force a run-off.
    Nigeria 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.
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