Cliffhanger in early returns from Nigeria presidential vote
The count in Abuja was being carried out in the presence of party representatives, national and international observers and media. The counting began two hours late, with no explanation given for the delay.
The U.S. and Britain issued a joint statement saying they would be “very concerned” by any attempts to undermine the independence of the electoral commission and distort the will of the Nigerian people.
“So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process – where the votes are finally counted – may be subject to deliberate political interference,” said the statement, signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond.
Jonathan’s party called the suggestions “absolute balderdash” and demanded evidence. Party spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode told foreign reporters that they “completely reject the assertion or the notion that we are in any way interfering with INEC,” the electoral commission.
“I will challenge John Kerry or any other foreign official to provide the evidence,” he said.
Widespread rigging has occurred in many previous elections, along with violence after those votes. New biometric cards aimed at stemming fraud were used but some newly imported card readers were not working properly, and voting was extended to Sunday in 300 out of 150,000 polling stations where that problem occurred, the election commission said.
Turnout was high Saturday among the nearly 60 million people eligible to vote in the high-stakes election, which took place despite a campaign of violence by the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram in northern Nigeria.
Jonathan and Buhari are the front-runners among 14 candidates for president.
The National Human Rights Commission said 50 people were killed during the balloting, including a state legislator, a soldier and two electoral workers.
via NorthEast Calling http://ift.tt/1DmZAdu
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