Buhari wins six states as opposition cries foul
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari won the first six of 36 states in early results, which the main opposition party claimed were being manipulated following an election marred by delays and sporadic violence that killed at least 39 people.
Buhari, 76, defeated his main challenger, Atiku Abubakar, in the southwestern state of Ekiti, where he lost four years ago, and retained Kwara with a large majority, Osun, Gombe and Kogi, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Monday in the capital, Abuja. He also won narrowly in Nasarawa, where he
lost last time and which is next to the capital territory where Abubakar triumphed by a wide margin.
As many as 73 million people were eligible to vote Saturday in a tight race between Buhari, an ex-general who campaigned on an anti-graft platform, and Abubakar, a 72-yearold businessman and former vice president. INEC’s announcement of the full results is expected today or Wednesday.
The chairman of Abubakar’s People’s Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, accused the government of using “inducements, manipulation and incarcerations” and enlisting the police and national army “to silence the voices of our long suffering people.” In a statement, he threatened to challenge some results and said “our democracy is under threat of derailment.”