The most expected day of the recent period has finally come: March 28, the day of the presidential election.
Millions
of Nigerians are to go to the polling units to cast their votes for the
candidate who will lead the country for the next 4 years.
Fourteen parties and presidential candidates were gunning for presidency.
The
toughest competition will apparently take place between President
Goodluck Jonathan, running on the platform of the Peoples Democratic
Party, and Muhammadu Buhari, representing the All Progressives Congress.
Both candidates yesterday arrived in their hometowns for the historical event in the political life of Nigeria.
Follow Naij.com for the freshest updates from across the country.
19:02 BBC Journalist, Kelvin Brown shared this picture of Buhari’s hometown as people still wait in line to cast their vote.
18:55
Reports coming in, states that River’s state governor, Governor Rotimi
Amaechi had clashed with Army Brigade Commander due to his movement with
his convoy.
Mr. Amaechi, who drove himself in a
bullet-proof BMW jeep, turned and drove towards his family compound in
Obima but was stopped by a detachment of troops led by the Commander of
the 2nd Brigade, Nigeria Army, Bori Camp, Brigadier General Essien
Essien.
A minor altercation ensued between Mr.Essien
and the governor over the legality of Mr. Amaechi moving around with a
convoy while election is going on.
Mr. Amaechi told the
army boss the problem voters were encountering in the area and noted
that as the governor of the state, he has the right to make sure that
elections are conducted within the ambit of the law. “Brigade Commander, why are you mountings two road blocks near my father’s compound,” he said.
“Are
you being sent by President Jonathan to kill me? I had told the world
that President Jonathan is trying to kill me and I am saying it again.”
Mr.
Essien denied being given any instruction to kill anybody and asked the
governor to go back to his home and stop moving about.
“His Excellency, we have instructions not to allow people who are not duly accredited not to move around during the election,” Mr. Essien said.
18:52 Vice-President Namadi Sambo on Saturday made history, for the first time in his political life, when he delivered his polling unit to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
18:28
Youths in Kadunna state attempted to murder one alleged PDP thug who
was said to have been taking Permanent Voters’ Cards of 150 women,
according to one witness in the area.
18:24 Rivers State Soldier alongside two other by standers killed as election turns bloody.
17:54
According to Twitter users, In Osun and Lagos polling unit, The APC is
currently winning while in Abuja PU’s Jonathan is clearly the favorite.
Official results are not yet out.
17:22 Dr Bukola Saraki and Alh Abubakar Kawu Baraje have expressed optimism that the party’s presidential candidte, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will emerge victorious in today’s election.
17:18 Naij.com source in OYI LGA, Anambra, reports
“Trouble as pdp official caught sharing #1500 to voter.police are everyhere and units voting might be cancelled according to police,” “Pdp money holder arrested and taking away by police,”
17:10 Emir of Kano casting his vote sometime earlier
17:00 General Buhari finally arrives his Daura PU to vote and is currently casting his vote.
16:52 Former Presidents Babangida and Abubakar at their polling unit.
Former Presidents Babangida and Abubakar at their polling unit
16:47 As we wait for Buhari,
See What the APC candidate was doing after getting accredited.
16:36 Accreditation almost done at PU003 where Muhammadu Buhari will be casting his vote.
Daura
16:25 The World’s Richest black man, Aliko Dangote votes. Have you voted?
Aliko Dangote casts his vote
16:20 Straight from the INEC twitter handle on
their recent changes to their guidelines. Another chance to cast a vote tomorrow for those who did not make it today!
16:00 Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole laments Army’s decision to not allow INEC officials get into his home town and do their job.
15:53 INEC
tweets: “If the CR [card reader] can’t read your fingerprint but
authenticates your PVC, an incident form will be filled and you’ll
vote.”
15:49 Counting of votes has already started at Ward 009, police college, Ikeja (The Punch).
15:44 People waiting patiently for voting to commence at a polling unit in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
Credits: @Premium Times
15:35 Like
Plateau Governor Jang, Adamawa state Governor Bala Ngilari also
encountered problems, as the card reader failed to capture the
biometrics in Yola (PT).
15:33 One Ozemena
Odeta was arrested at Ekawoke Ward in Ikwo LGA, Ebonyi state, while he
was distributing PVCS allegedly snatched from the INEC staff during the
last distribution exercise in the area (Vanguard).
15:22 GEJ briefs journalists after voting:
“I
don’t think the issue of card readers is limited to my LGA, to Bayelsa
state. It’s nationwide issue. When the card readers are not working,
definitely we’ll take manual option.
“I don’t think it’s limited to PDP-controlled state.
“I’m
not aware of violence in Enugu state. I called the governor, there were
some vehicles that came from the north, someone suspected there was an
IED.
“What happened in Gombe: you know the war against terrorism
is still going on. There was some fighting between the soldiers and the
terrorists, but this has nothing to do with elections.
“I voted for myself, and I voted for the PDP, just like in all the other elections.”
15: 14 Patience Jonathan right after her husband.
15:13 Goodluck Jonathan casts his vote.
Credits: snapshot from NTA video
15:05 APC asks
the INEC to extend the time for accreditation and voting due to delays
caused by technical issues (problems card readers).
The Saturday statement reads:
“The
card reader is a novel tool in our elections and naturally there will
be some initial hiccups. We understand that the delays were due to the
failure to remove the protective films on the lenses of many card
readers, the poor network of some of the sim cards in the machines and
the effect of jamming devices on the card readers.”
14:53 Olusegun Obasanjo is done with voting!
Credits: Premium Times
14:50 Speaking
about the problematic locations, Yemi Osinbajo, the APC vice
presidential candidate, urged residents to remain calm by saying: “We
need to be patient and don’t allow delays to discourage us from voting.”
(Sahara Reporters)
Credits: @MrSleevesUp
14:30 Imad
Mesdoua, Political Analyst at Africa Matters Limited, tweets that 3
deaths have been confirmed in Yobe state. The tragedy was said to have
been caused by Boko Haram activities as the voters were going to the
polling stations.
14:05 The Punch confirmed
an explosion in Awka, Anambra state. The incident reportedly took place at Atom a polling unit at Umuokpara Primary School.
14:00 Naij.com
readers from all over the country have been informing us that the
accreditation has finished and voting has started (Ona-Ara local
government and Oyo State, Abeokuta South LGA). In some other areas the
accreditation process was extended (for example, Uyo, Oku).
13:35 Dire photo from the scene of
Enugu explosion (Channels TV).
13:25 INEC website is back online.
13:17 Elections
staff explain to US Ambassador to Nigeria James F. Entwistle and US
assistant secretary of state Linda Thomas-Greenfield the malfunctioning
card readers.
Credits: @geoffreyyork
13:07
Some Kaduna state voters who registered to cast their votes in places
away from their residences were stopped by the police from going to
the polling units. The police spokesman promised to sort out the
misunderstanding (PT).
13:05 INEC officials
at Gbagada unit 001 and 062, Lagos, refuse to manually accredit voters
despite failure of card readers (Vanguard).
12:57 BBC
Africa reports with reference to Transitional Monitoring Group that 68%
of polling units in Nigeria opened by 11:30. When the scheduled opening
time was 8:00.
12:50 Again, issues with
the card readers. This time the machine refused to capture biometrics of
Plateau state Governor Jonah Jang and his wife Talatu. The politician
commented: “I am disappointed in the process, since the card reader can
reject the number one citizen of the state.”
12:30
At least 2 people killed in a suspected Boko Haram attack on polling
stations in the villages of Birin Bolawa and Birin Fulani in the Nafada
district of
Gombe state
(Vanguard). An anonymous election official commented: “We could hear
the gunmen shouting, ‘Didn’t we warn you about staying away from (the)
election?'”
12:19 INEC say they are aware of the cyber attack. Currently investigating the incident.
12:00 Photo of a 117-year-old voter at Yahaya Umar polling unit, Gombe state, goes viral!
11:56 Unconfirmed information about unrest in Gombe, with one person killed.
11:48 BREAKING:
INEC website hacked
11:44 Jonathan addresses people for the second time, after having been accredited without the card reader
Credits: Channels TV
11:33 Nobel Prize laureate Wole Soyinka going through the accreditation in Ogun state
Credits: @Gidi_Traffic
11:30
According to the Twitter handle of the NBA Lawyers-Nigeria, there was
“heavy shooting in Ekiti Oke Osun ward, Ikire Ekiti, over argument
between Deputy Gov and a Party Agent.
A security and a Voter badly wounded.”
11:25 Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo accredited at Ward 11, Unit 22 Totoro/Sokori, Abeokuta North.
Credits: @Gidi_Traffic
11:05 Now for sure,
GEJ gets accredited, Channels TV reports. Confirmed by Daily Trust. Says he will be back by 13:00 to cast his vote.
Credits: Reuben Abati
Credits: Reuben Abati
10:45 Meanwhile Aisha gets successfully accredited in Daura
Credits: PT
10:35 BREAKING:
Despite previous updates that Jonathan was accredited, the freshest
news suggest that three voter card readers have yet failed to read
President Goodluck Jonathan’s biometrics and accredit him.
10:33 People displaced by Boko Haram are voting in Maiduguri camps.
Credits: Daily Trust
10:11 Soldiers
reportedly barricaded the Abuja-Kuje road turning back journalists and
observers heading to the town. A witness said even European Union
observers were blocked at a military checkpoint at Dantata on the way to
Kuje. One of the locked journalists said he has information that some
ruling party politicians plot to rig in the town (Premium Times).
10:07 Speaking about accreditation problems, Jonathan said:
“I am not worried that Card Reader did not work well we have to be patient with the INEC.”
10:00 Kaduna state governorship candidate Nasir El-Rufai heading to his polling unit to cast a vote.
Credits: @IamKevinJasper
9:55 ANOTHER explosion is said to have taken place in Anambra state. Luckily, no casualties. Details not clear.
9:44 @nkemifejika tweets: “Water & ‘omo’ recommended. Card reader friendlier to clean hands. Apparently.”
9:40
Finally, done! The accreditation process accreditation took at least 6
minutes at the card reader stage. Based on the social media mesages, it
all went quicker with Buhari.
9:37 Seems like GEJ still can’t complete the accreditation. Why is that?
9:23 Goodluck and Patience Jonathan being accredited in Otuoke, Bayelsa state.
President Jonathan, the First Lady arrived at a polling unit around 9am. Snapshot from a video: ChannelsTV
9:20 BREAKING:
A car bomb exploded at the WTC Primary School polling booth in Enugu North LGA at
about 7:38 Saturday (The Advocate). No casualty recorded. The experts
dismantled the second bomb which was timed to explode during the voting
and detonated it at 8:45. As shocking as it might be, there was a third
device which detonated at 9:05. Screening in progress.
9:15 @shile_02holly posted a photo accompanied by the caption “Dis policemen just seized a PVC frm a man!”
9:05
A voter in wheelchair displays his voters card after completing his
accreditation at Ido-Osi in Ifaki local government, Ekiti (PT).
Credits: Premium Times
8:45 Muhammadu Buhari, and his wife Aisha have been accredited in his hometown Daura, Katsina state.
Credits: @OmanoE
8:40 Nigerians report that accreditation successfully commences in polling units around 8:00.
See the messages dropped from across Lagos.
However, in some areas there area delays For example, at Iworoko Ekiti,
Irepodun Ifelodun LGA, and in Oyi LGA, Anambra state, voters are
waiting for the arrival of INEC officials and materials.
READ MORE: http://www.naij.com/410808-presidential-election-nigeria-chooses-the-leader-today.html
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