Nigeria election: Partial extension of voting to Sunday

Elections in parts of Nigeria have been extended until Sunday after delays and a number of attacks.

The delays were “not widespread” but were still “a matter of concern”, an election official told the BBC.

Technical problems with new biometric cards slowed down voter registration, even affecting President Goodluck Jonathan.

More than a dozen people have reportedly been killed in various attacks by unknown gunmen.

Mr Jonathan is facing a strong challenge from Muhammadu Buhari.

The election is said to be the most closely fought since independence.

It was postponed from mid-February to allow the army to recapture territory from the Islamist militants of Boko Haram.

The two main candidates had pledged to prevent violence during and in the aftermath of the elections.

But several hours after voting started, reports came in of violent incidents at polling stations in which at least 13 were reported to have been killed.

President Jonathan registers to vote after problems with the biometric card reader, 28 March 2015

After some problems with the electronic card reader, President Jonathan was finally registered manually and has now cast his vote

Gen Muhammadu Buhari arriving in his home town Daura, voting card in hand, 28 March 2015

Gen Muhammadu Buhari arriving to register in his home town Daura, voting card in hand

Voters are also electing members of the house of representatives and the senate.

By 12:30 local time (11:30 GMT), only 81% of polling stations were open, according to the Transitional Monitoring Group (TMG), the largest body observing the elections.

This was 30 minutes before the deadline to be accredited to vote.

The TMG says voting has started in 75% of polling stations, while 92% have the materials they need to start the process.

Voters need to register first using biometric cards with their fingerprints before they can cast their vote.

However, at some polling stations, card readers are working slowly or not at all.

 

BBC

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*