Nigerian ruling party accused of 'massive' vote rigging

A Nigerian opposition politician today accused the ruling party of “massive rigging” in presidential elections that showed the incumbent Olusegun Obasanjo with an overwhelming lead.

In early results today, Obasanjo was well ahead of his main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari – a former military ally turned bitter rival.

With more than 14 million votes counted, Obasanjo had 66% percent compared with 27% for Buhari.

The election was a major test of whether democracy has firmly taken root in the West African giant since Obasanjo was elected four years ago, ending 15 years of brutal military rule.

Nigeria – Africa’s most populous nation – has never had a successful transition from one civilian government to another. Despite being one of the world’s largest oil exporters, it is desperately poor and its history is stained with coups and unrest.

One official in Buhari’s party angrily denounced the vote.

“The masses are going to react. They will fight,” Francis Erube said. “Obasanjo’s people want to mess up this country. But the people are not going to allow them to do that.”

Obasanjo was once a military ruler before he traded his uniform for traditional robes and ran for election in 1999.

He has 19 challengers, including Buhari. The two former officers were once close colleagues, but their relationship soured after Obasanjo accused Buhari of mismanagement.

Fearing unrest, soldiers and police patrolled the streets of the northern cities of Kaduna and Jos. But in two northern cities where violence had been feared – Kano and Maiduguri – Buhari supporters launched street celebrations overnight, not protests, after news of an apparent lead by his party’s governorship candidates there.

Saturday’s vote was marred by a shooting at a polling booth in the oil-producing Niger Delta, the scene of a month of ethnic and political violence that has left more than 100 people dead. Six people were killed in the attack, election monitors said.

Nearly half of Nigeria’s 126 million people registered for the ballot in 36 states and the capital. It was unclear how many voted, though officials said turnout was strong.

Nigeria’s election commission promised to cancel results in areas with proven cases of fraud.

“As far as we are concerned, (so far) there has been no rigging,” Abel Guobadia, the election commission chairman said late last night, urging those complaining of fraud “not to resort to violence”.

Obasanjo’s rule has brought some improvement in individual and press freedoms. But outbreaks of political, religious and ethnic violence have left more than 10,000 people dead since 1999. The leader’s critics say he has done little to fight poverty and corruption.

Buhari gained notoriety by launching a 1983 coup that toppling civilian leader Shehu Shagari after elections widely regarded as flawed.

Neither candidate has articulated his platform – their campaigns have largely drawn upon Nigeria’s religious and ethnic fault lines. Obasanjo is a Christian from the Yoruba ethnic group, with strong support in the south-west. Buhari is a Fulani and a Muslim from the north.