Nigerians await winner of presidential vote after voting problems | General news

Nigeria is waiting Sunday for the results of its presidential election as civil society groups have warned that disruption and violence may have undermined election results.

The results of 120,000 polling stations in 36 states where the vote was held on Saturday were expected to spread in the capital Abuja after being rallied at the local and state levels. The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, will officially announce the results in the coming days.

Anyone who will become the next leader of Africa's most populous country and the largest oil producer will face a list of daunting tasks, ranging from widespread insecurity to endemic corruption, to a recovering economy. of the recession. Although INEC declared itself "overall satisfied" with the vote, the ballot extended Saturday night beyond the 14:00 (13:00 GMT) conclusion in areas where the equipment was not working. did not arrive at the time.

Local media reported Sunday that polling stations were still open in some parts of Nigeria, while INEC has not yet announced what it would do in the 8,500 polling places where polls were not possible.

Civil society groups who followed the vote reported 16 deaths related to election-related violence in eight states on Saturday. Nigeria's recent Nigerian elections in 2015 were considered free and fair, but Idayat Hbadan of the Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) warned that bloodshed and dysfunction this year were setbacks.

"This election was a serious deterioration from 2015," she told AFP. "What we are waiting for now from a credible, free and fair election was not there."