#NigeriaDecides: Millions of Nigerians Turn Out to Vote

Nigerians turned out en masse to vote in the presidential election which was held on Saturday, 28th March, 2015. President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator, Muhammadu Buhari are the front-runners among 14 candidates who want to govern Africa’s most populous nation. In many areas, the late arrival of officials and materials delayed the accreditation process in the morning but the good-humoured voters smiled when electoral officials finally arrived and commenced accreditation. Reuters reported that the Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram opened fire on voters as they walked to polling stations in the north-east of the country. “We could hear the gunmen shouting: “Didn’t we warn you about staying away from the election?” They set fire to all the election materials we abandoned as we escaped.” One INEC official told a reporter after the shootings in Gombe. Despite this, many people in the region came out defiantly to vote. At a secondary school in Yola, a university lecturer, Abbas Mohammed was able to cast his vote in one of the polling centres. “If we don’t vote, it will be as if Boko Haram has battered us twice,” he said. Jonathan has expressed his confidence in INEC adding that the poll would be deemed credible and accepted by international observers. He said, “There have been some issues with card readers, but we have to persevere. I believe at the end of the day, we will all be happy with the results.” A billionaire businessman, Tony Elumelu – who also exercised his rights by voting – stated that “Nigerians are exercising their voting rights by defying the sun and heat to vote. We can’t complain if we’re not involved.” Another voter, Sonnie Ekwowusi said proudly, “It’s a historic thing. This is the first election since independence where we have equally matched contestants. The voters are enlightened and know who they want. I think we are making progress. We have learned a lot of democratic lessons and we are putting them into practice now.” Voting was extended to Sunday, 29th March in some areas where the new machines were not reading voters’ bio-metric cards. The areas where voting was extended include Lagos, Adamawa, Kebbi, Niger States among others. INEC has warned against premature announcement of results on social media stating that it is only the commission that has the right to announce results and urged Nigerians to ignore partisans claiming to be privy to election results in various states. According to INEC, collation of results will begin at 12pm today, 30th March. Click here to know how to contact INEC for the latest news, make inquiries and complaints.     About the Writer: Ejura Salihu is a freelance Writer and Copyeditor. Connect with her on twitter @Icyquin_msc