Kano — Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner of Nigeria's election on Monday as tensions began rising across the vast northern half of the country, which had strongly backed opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari in Saturday's poll.
Professor Attahiru Jega, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced that Jonathan had won the poll with 22.5 million votes compared to 12.2 million for Bhuari, his closest contender. Total votes cast were about 39.5 million.
Provisional results had indicated that Jonathan was likely to win. By mid-morning on Monday, young men and boys had taken to the streets of several cities, armed with wooden planks and lighter fuel, protesting the victory of the "accidental incumbent" Goodluck Jonathan, who won with what some said were unbelievable margins of more than 99 percent in his home state in the southern oil-rich Delta, while Buhari swept the northern vote. A map of these results is telling: Nigeria's electorate is deeply divided over their presidential preferences.
Some voters, who turned out peacefully and in force on Saturday, appeared unwilling to accept the results on Monday.
In the historic northern city of Kano the same "ready army" of unemployed youth who have participated in political elite-sponsored rigging of past votes set up checkpoints and demanded that passersby express their preference for Buhari. Later, the protests became riots and young men targeted known supporters of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and burned cars outside the emir of Kano's house. By late afternoon, a doctor at the Murtalla Muhammad Hospital in Kano told AllAfrica.com that he had seen 10 dead bodies and more than 15 gunshot wound victims in the hospital's emergency ward.
Violence also struck the northern cities of Kaduna and Zaria, where witnesses said rioters lit bonfires and security forces shot in the air to disperse crowds.
At Murtalla Muhammad Hospital in Kano, a doctor expressed chagrin at the events, saying that the rioters were "out to steal and loot," and didn't have "any political ambition."
The young men may have been drawn to the streets, however, by public statements made by Buhari and his party's spokesmen, who filed a formal complaint on Monday afternoon to INEC, accusing the ruling party of widespread rigging in the south.
"The results announced so far cannot stand based on the irregularities we have seen," Buhari's spokesman Yinka Odumakin told Reuters news agency. "In (the northern states of) Kano and Katsina there were reductions in our vote ... We cannot accept these results as announced until cross-checks have been carried out by the electoral commission," he said.
Observers from the African Union and the Economic Community of West African states lauded Saturday's vote as fair and credible.
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Mr. Buhari...I've looked at the numbers and the southern votes don't seem as lopsided as you claim. Don't be a sore loser. Mr. Gbagbo did not accept the results in his country, and we all know what happened there, right?
Fight like a politician...IN THE LEGISLATURE...but don't take it to the streets. Nigeria is finally getting some time to heal. It is not time to rip open old wounds again.
Preatorian, though some are comparing the unrest in NIgeria to that of Ivory Coast, these situations are not the same:
In NIgeria, the two major candidates are Nigerians and both qualified to run for presidency of the nation. In Ivory Coast however, while incumbent president Gbagbo met the qualification for presidency of Ivory Coast as per Ivory Coast Constitution (which mandates its president be purebred Ivoirian), Ouattara (Burkina Faso born and Burkina Faso national) is unqualified for presidency of Ivory Coast! See Staging a Rwanda Genocide - http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7962833/staging_a_rwanda_genocide. html?cat=75
Buhari and some of his Northern loosers should understand that finally democracy seems to be gaining ground in our Country and they should not stand on the way to stop it.Unfortunately,the same Buhari who is now talking about democracy is the same tyrant who staged military coup to overthrow President Shehu Shagari.Bahuri does not understand anything about freedom he is still a naive military junta and Nigerians never stop grading him as coup plotter.
It is time for all Nigerians to come together and support the President- elect and help in re-shaping the future of our Nation for Jonathan can not succeed without our general input to govern.It is important that the Country picks up the pieces and moveon for better Nigeria irrespective of Buhari's adult deliquent whinning.Buhari and his idiotic supporters should understand that Nigerians are sick and tired of violent which does not produce anything good but destructions and hates. President-elect Jonathan must now start figuring a way he can work together with other political parties so as to enhance peace and economic stability this Nation really deserves.This Nation can not afford making same mistakes of the pasts as Buhari may like.
If all candidates met qualifications for presidency and the Nigerian election was conducted fairly, then it is only appropriate for the disappointed Nigerian Northerners, heavily Muslims, to accept result and work towards the well-being of the nation. Though some are comparing the unrest in NIgeria to that of Ivory Coast, these situations are not the same:
In NIgeria, the two major candidates are Nigerians and both qualified to run for presidency of the nation. In Ivory Coast however, while incumbent president Gbagbo met the qualification for presidency of Ivory Coast as per Ivory Coast Constitution (which mandates its president be purebred Ivoirian), Ouattara (Burkina Faso born and Burkina Faso national) is unqualified for presidency of Ivory Coast! See: Purebred Ivoirian for President - http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/7864836/purebred_ivoirian_for_pres ident.html?cat=75
THE spokesperson of the defeated CPC presidential hopeful Gen. Buhari, is alleged to have protested to INEC to cancel the 2011 presidential election on the ground that the computer used for the exercise was pre-programmed to favour GEJ. ... I'm not surprised the Rtd General is blaming the computer this time around ; decades ago a cartoonist (when Buhari was a military dictator,) said of him that in a lawn tennis court , the General blames the racket anytime he misses the ball . So this time around, the computer is the reason GEJ won in 31 states....
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