Polls close in Nigeria as Buhari looks to consolidate victory

Nigerians have voted in governorship and state assembly elections, the second poll in a fortnight, as monitors expressed concerns about political violence, vote-buying and an increased military presence.

Saturday’s election comes two weeks after Muhammadu Buhari secured a second term in a delayed presidential vote, and is expected to be contentious in some areas.

The country’s two top political parties are vying for control of powerful states that in certain cases have larger budgets than some African nations.

The Situation Room, an umbrella organization of more than 70 civil society monitoring groups, warned about an “escalation of violence between and within political parties and their supporters” during Saturday’s voting.
     
In several states the “partisanship of security agencies” and “an intimidating presence of military personnel,” was a concern the group said, reporting that military fighter jets had been deployed in parts of the country.

Heavy military deployment was reported in Rivers state in Nigeria’s restive south.

Buhari will be expecting to consolidate his victory on February 23, when he won 19 states to secure a second, four-year term of office.
     
His All Progressives Congress (APC) currently controls 22 states while the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has 13.
     
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has one.

Elections for governors were held in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states, for all state assemblies, along with the administrative councils in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.

Polling stations opened at 07:00 GMT and closed at 13:00 GMT, with results expected early next week.

Violence, vote-buying

Local officials confirmed to The Associated Press news agency the burning of electoral facilities in Benue and Ebonyi states. Observers note scattered reports of thuggery or suspected underage voters.

And Nigeria’s top anti-corruption agency says it has intercepted “bags of cash meant for vote-buying”.

The queues outside polling centres in the capital Abuja were shorter compared to two weeks ago when voters cast their ballots in the presidential poll.

“People are not coming out to vote because they are disappointed with the outcome of the presidential election and that has affected the turnout of today’s election,” Obinna Okeke, a businessman, told Al Jazeera.

Many of the voters said they found the voting process easier compared to previous elections.

“It was easy to vote today. People are not many today as compared to the previous elections. The card reader worked smoothly when I was getting accredited,” Edidiong Bassey, a 35-year-old civil servant, told Al Jazeera.

Governors are powerful and influential figures in Nigeria’s federal politics, controlling state finances, giving them responsibility for key areas including education to health.

With so much at stake, many previous governorship elections have been marred by violence, including shootings and armed gangs snatching ballot boxes.

Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), beat Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in last month’s presidential election with 15.2 million votes to 11.3 million, though on a turnout of just 35.6 percent.

State-level elections are often predicted to broadly mirror presidential polling and this year comes amid concerns about the role of security forces during the vote.

During the presidential and parliamentary polling, there were reports of violence, vote-buying, voter intimidation and ballot box vandalism in some states.

At least 53 people were killed, according to the Situation Room which said safety fears contributed to a low turnout.

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies