Africa ::Protests in Nigeria over Jonathan 'poll win'

Africa

Protests in Nigeria over Jonathan 'poll win'

Apparent victory of incumbent president sparks violent protests in opposition stronghold as vote-rigging is alleged. 

Rioting erupted in several towns in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north as election officials prepared to release presidential voting results that were likely to keep Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian leader from the south, in charge of Africa's most populous nation.
Allegations of vote rigging led to street riots in various states on Monday, as results showed sharp divisions between the mainly Muslim north and the predominately Christian south.
Protesting youths challenged soldiers deployed to the streets of Nigeria's second-largest city of Kano, and troops sought to push them back, an AFP correspondent said.
The violence came as Jonathan of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) took an early unassailable lead in Saturday's presidential election.
Yvonne Ndege, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Abuja, said the preliminary results upset supporters of the incumbent president's main rival, Muhammadu Buhari, in the north. 
Protesters also stopped cars and demanded that passengers express support for Buhari, an ex-military ruler, whose stronghold is in the north.
"About four or five northern states have reacted extremely angrily that Goodluck Jonathan has won this election. in Kaduna state churches are apparently on fire and a child may have died in an arson attack.
In the northeast, the offices of the PDP have been burned in some areas. People are basically saying that they believe that the PDP have rigged this election, that the numbers don't add up."
Rigging allegation
Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) told Al Jazeera that the poll had been systemically rigged.
“We have evidence in our hands that the computers (used in the voting process), were programmed to produce rigged results.”
Nuhu Ribadu, the country's former anti-corruption czar who was also in the presidential race, appeared to be struggling after his Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) party won only one state.
The constitution requires the winner to get at least one-quarter of the ballots in at least two-thirds of the states plus the capital to avoid a runoff. Jonathan had achieved that threshold.
While states whose results have not been declared have enough votes to shift the lead from Jonathan, it appears unlikely Buhari will be able to salvage a victory, the Associated Press reported.
'Comparatively fair elections'
Attahiru Jega, the chairman of the national electoral body, said his agency would begin announcing results again at 9pm local time on Monday.
Millions of voters - 73 million were registered to vote - turned out for the vote as Africa's most populous nation strove to put years of rigging and badly flawed ballots behind it.

The election, generally seen as peaceful and fairer compared to past elections in 2003 and 2007, has been described by some observers as the cleanest for head of state in nearly two decades.

Concerns were raised late on Sunday over extraordinarily high totals favouring Jonathan in parts of his native south. Riots broke out in parts of the predominantly Muslim north over allegations of rigging.

A police spokesman said security had been deployed to the city of Sokoto to contain youths burning bonfires in protest over the vote.

"Figures of 95 per cent and above for one party suggest that these are fabricated figures and, personally, they worry me because they pose serious questions on the credibility of the election," said Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development. 

The PDP, which has won presidential elections since 1999 when Nigeria returned to civilian rule, was widely expected to win as the opposition appeared to command support in less than 15 states.

Jonathan, 53, is the first president from the main oil-producing Niger Delta region.

He became the president after the death of the country's elected Muslim leader.

Many of the north's elite wanted the ruling party to honour an unwritten power-sharing agreement - known as "zoning" - calling for a Muslim candidate to run in this election, yet Jonathan prevailed in the party's primary.

Buhariv won the support of many in the north as a Muslim leader willing to crack down on the corruption prevalent in the nation.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies