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Nigeria reopens some polling stations after election glitches | Nigeria reopens some polling stations after election glitches |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Polling stations have reopened in some parts of Nigeria for a second day of voting after technical glitches disrupted the country’s knife-edge presidential election. | |
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 300 of the 150,000 polling stations would accept further ballots after handheld devices to read biometric identity cards malfunctioned. | |
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is facing a strong challenge from Muhammadu Buhari, was the highest-profile victim of the breakdown on Saturday and eventually had to be registered using the old manual method. | |
His governing People’s Democratic party (PDP) described the situation a “huge national embarrassment” and a vindication of its opposition to the technology, which it said was untested. | His governing People’s Democratic party (PDP) described the situation a “huge national embarrassment” and a vindication of its opposition to the technology, which it said was untested. |
“There should have been a test-run for a smaller election before deploying it for an election of this magnitude,” Jonathan’s presidential campaign spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode told Agence France-Presse. | “There should have been a test-run for a smaller election before deploying it for an election of this magnitude,” Jonathan’s presidential campaign spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode told Agence France-Presse. |
Buhari’s opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) had endorsed the new system as a way of curbing widespread vote-rigging that hit previous elections, and he played down the glitches. “All this, I think, negative thought about Nigeria election shouldn’t hold because of a problem in even a maximum of five states,” he said. | |
The card readers were provided by ACT Technologies, based in the capital, Abuja. Kayode Idowu, a spokesman for INEC, said the machines had been manufactured abroad but he did not know where or at what cost. | |
Attahiru Jega, INEC’s chairman, said the problem was limited to about 450 card readers. He told the private Channels Television that provision for a second day of voting had been granted because it was a democratic right for citizens to participate. “It will not affect returns on the presidential election,” he said. | |
On Saturday some voters cast their ballot in the dark and at many polling stations the count was started by torchlight or in the glow of mobile phones. | |
At one station under a bridge in Bonny Camp, Lagos, presiding officers held up each vote one by one and a crowd counted loudly in unison, erupting in cheers when it emerged that Buhari had 122 against Jonathan’s 74. Umar Musa, wearing an Arsenal football shirt, said: “We want change! Electricity. Healthcare. Unemployment. We have waited too long and we need a new direction.” | At one station under a bridge in Bonny Camp, Lagos, presiding officers held up each vote one by one and a crowd counted loudly in unison, erupting in cheers when it emerged that Buhari had 122 against Jonathan’s 74. Umar Musa, wearing an Arsenal football shirt, said: “We want change! Electricity. Healthcare. Unemployment. We have waited too long and we need a new direction.” |
The election, the most competitive since Nigeria returned to civilian rule 16 years ago, is seen as a critical moment in the development of African democracy. Nearly 60 million people were eligible to vote. | The election, the most competitive since Nigeria returned to civilian rule 16 years ago, is seen as a critical moment in the development of African democracy. Nearly 60 million people were eligible to vote. |
As feared, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram launched several attacks on voters in the north-east on election day. Before dawn, extremists invaded the town of Miringa, in Borno state, torching people’s homes and then shooting them as they tried to escape the smoke. Twenty-five people died in the attack, the Borno state governor Kashim Shettima said. | As feared, the Islamist militant group Boko Haram launched several attacks on voters in the north-east on election day. Before dawn, extremists invaded the town of Miringa, in Borno state, torching people’s homes and then shooting them as they tried to escape the smoke. Twenty-five people died in the attack, the Borno state governor Kashim Shettima said. |
Another 14 people were killed in attacks on the towns of Biri and Dukku, in Gombe state, according to police and a local chief. Among the dead was a state legislator, Agence France-Presse reported. | |
Boko Haram, which is fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria, rejects democracy, and the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to kill those who go to vote. | Boko Haram, which is fighting to establish an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria, rejects democracy, and the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has threatened to kill those who go to vote. |
The government spokesman Mike Omeri praised the millions of people who had cast their ballots. “The high voter turnout and the dedication and patience of Nigerian voters is, in itself, a triumph of Nigerian democracy,” he said. | |
Jonathan, a 57-year-old Christian from the south, and Buhari, 72, a former military dictator from the predominantly Muslim north, appealed for calm and signed a “peace accord” on the eve of the vote. Many Nigerians, however, still fear a repeat of the post-election violence that erupted in 2011, when 800 people died in the north after Buhari’s defeat. | |
“The danger is post-election,” the former Malawian president Bakili Muluzi, who is leading a Commonwealth observer mission, told Reuters. “We’ve been assured by the peace accord between the leaders, but how that trickles down is the danger.” | “The danger is post-election,” the former Malawian president Bakili Muluzi, who is leading a Commonwealth observer mission, told Reuters. “We’ve been assured by the peace accord between the leaders, but how that trickles down is the danger.” |
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