Nigerians wait to finish voting in some places as election count underway

Nigerians gathered to vote on Sunday in a few parts of the country where technical and other glitches prevented a national election from taking place the previous day, even as vote-counting was underway in other places.

A Reuters reporter saw voters arriving at polling stations in Yenagoa city, due to open at 10am (0900 GMT) so electoral commission officials can complete Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary election.

“The whole process is an absolute mess,” said Preye Iti, 60, a civil servant. “I waited from 8.30am to 6.30pm yesterday. Now I’m back here at 8.30 again.”

Voting was also expected to continue in some parts of northeastern Borno state, where voting machines failed to work.

The commission said late on Saturday that the election would continue in several wards in Yenagoa, which lies in Nigeria’s oil-producing south, and where there were cases of election officers and materials failing to turn up on Saturday.

It added that official nationwide results could be expected from late on Sunday evening. The final election tally is expected within five days.

The presidential race is to replace outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired army general, who was also a military ruler in the 1980s. He is stepping down after winning two previous elections and serving the maximum eight years permitted by the constitution.