Nigeria: Voting in Presidential and Legislative elections extended to Sunday

Nigeria extended voting in presidential and legislative elections to Sunday after delays and equipment malfunctions disrupted balloting.

Accreditation began late at about half of the polling stations, according to provisional data from the Situation Room, a coalition of civil-society groups monitoring the vote.

The elections, which were delayed by six weeks, are the most hotly contested since military rule ended in 1999 in Africa’s most populous nation. President Goodluck Jonathan, 57, and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) are facing a united opposition led by former military leader Muhammadu Buhari, a 72-year-old northern Muslim who’s lost three previous elections.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, known as INEC, said about 56 million of the 68 million registered voters picked up cards that were to be screened by biometric readers to cut down on identification fraud. Eighty percent of the electronic devices functioned correctly, according to INEC.

Jonathan had to delay his registration Saturday after the biometric card reader at his polling station in Bayelsa state failed to recognize his fingerprints. He was later able to vote.

In some areas, registration and voting went smoothly. Balloting can take place Sunday at those stations where accreditation wasn’t completed, INEC spokesman Kayode Idowu said by phone. Counting of the votes started late Saturday, he said.

To win, a presidential contender must take at least 50 percent of the total vote while winning a quarter of the ballots in a minimum of 24 of the 36 states. If none of the 14 candidates secure such a victory, a run-off would be held within 7 days after the results are announced.

Source: Bloomberg