ABUJA, Nigeria — Some pissed off Nigerians solid their ballots with flashlights whereas others stood watch at their polling stations as counting acquired beneath means late Saturday amid fears of vote tampering after a day of delays in Africa’s most populous nation.

Election officers blamed the delays on logistical points, although different observers pointed to the upheaval created by a redesigned foreign money that has left many unable to acquire financial institution notes. The money scarcity affected transport not just for voters but additionally election staff and cops offering safety.

Voting ended nicely past schedule in lots of locations after delays however some had been nonetheless voting in just a few areas the place the train stretched into the evening. Within the northwest Bauchi state, Lagos-based Channels TV reported that voters had been nonetheless voting utilizing their torchlights at round 9 p.m.

And in Abuja and Delta state, voters caught round to watch the method and make sure the outcomes weren’t tampered with.

“Dusk has come — something can occur (now),” Torke Ezekiel mentioned after casting his poll.

Whereas there have been fears of violence on Election Day, from Islamic militants within the north to separatists within the south voting was largely peaceable Saturday although a dramatic scene unfolded within the megacity of Lagos within the mid-afternoon.

Related Press journalists noticed armed males pull as much as the voting station in a minibus, hearth pictures within the air and snatch the presidential poll field. The pictures despatched voters screaming and scattering for canopy, and ballots strewn throughout the ground.

And within the northeast state of Borno, a minimum of 5 individuals together with kids, had been wounded when Boko Haram extremists attacked voters in Gwoza city, native authorities mentioned.

Mahmood Yakubu, head of Nigeria’s election fee, mentioned nationwide collation of leads to the presidential election would begin at midday on Sunday. In 2019, the winner of the presidential election was introduced 4 days after the voting day.

“We’re making very regular progress and we are going to proceed to make sure that nothing truncates our democracy or truncates the need of the Nigerian individuals,” mentioned Yakubu, the election chief.

Nevertheless, Mucahid Durmaz, senior analyst at Verisk Maplecroft, a world danger intelligence firm, mentioned voting “has been very sophisticated for Nigerians.”

There have been “widespread complaints about late-arriving officers, nonfunctioning machines, low presence of safety and assaults on polling stations,” he added.

Incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari is stepping down after two four-year phrases in Nigeria, a West African nation the place unemployment has soared to 33% whilst one of many continent’s prime oil producers.

Out of the sphere of 18 presidential candidates, three front-runners emerged in latest weeks: the candidate from Buhari’s ruling social gathering, the principle opposition social gathering candidate and a third-party challenger who has drawn robust help from youthful voters.

However it remained unclear what number of voters had been deterred due to the money disaster, which has left Nigerians with funds of their financial institution accounts unable to acquire the money they want for issues like gasoline and taxis.

“Voters mentioned the brand new naira coverage made it very tough for individuals to move themselves to their polling models they usually had been additionally hungry. So that they felt fairly than going out to burn vitality, they need to simply keep again house,” mentioned Anthony Adejuwon who monitored the election in Osun state.

The vote is being rigorously watched as Nigeria is Africa’s largest economic system. By 2050, the U.N. estimates that Nigeria will tie with the US because the third most populous nation on the planet after India and China.

Additionally it is house to one of many largest youth populations on the planet with a median age of solely 18. About 64 million of its 210 million persons are between the ages of 18 and 35.

Favour Ben, 29, who owns a meals enterprise within the capital, Abuja, mentioned she was backing third-party candidate Peter Obi.

“Obi is aware of what Nigerians want,” she mentioned. “He is aware of what is definitely disturbing us and I imagine he is aware of how you can sort out it.”

Buhari’s tenure was marked by considerations about his ailing well being and frequent journeys overseas for medical therapy. Two of the highest candidates are of their 70s and each have been in Nigerian politics since 1999.

Against this, at 61, Obi of the Labour social gathering is the youngest of the front-runners and had surged within the polls within the weeks main as much as Saturday’s vote.

Nonetheless, Bola Tinubu has the robust help of the ruling All Progressives Congress social gathering as an essential backer of the incumbent president. And Atiku Abubakar has the title recognition of being certainly one of Nigeria’s richest businessmen, having additionally served as a vp and presidential hopeful in 2019 for his Peoples Democratic Get together.

For the primary time this 12 months Nigeria’s election outcomes might be transmitted electronically to headquarters in Abuja, a step officers say will cut back voter fraud. Officers additionally say they’re going to be implementing a ban on cell phones inside voting cubicles to forestall vote-buying: pictures of the votes are normally despatched as proof if individuals have acquired cash to select a sure candidate.

Since officers in November introduced the choice to revamp Nigeria’s foreign money, the naira, new payments have been gradual to flow into. On the similar time, older financial institution notes stopped being accepted, making a scarcity in a rustic the place many use money for day by day transactions.

Durmaz says the foreign money change ought to have been specified by an extended timeline earlier than or after the election. Prolonged waits to vote “will seemingly disenfranchise voters, deepen the electoral disputes and set off violence.”

“Delays together with studies of voter suppression in Lagos danger aggravating the frustration amongst passionate voters in a highly-anticipated election and trigger an explosion of violent protests in city facilities,” he warned. “Any outbreak of violence may quickly embrace ethnic and non secular undertones, given the appreciable affect of ethnic and non secular variations on elections in Nigeria.”

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Related Press journalists Grace Ekpu in Lagos, Nigeria; Yesica Fisch in Yola, Nigeria; Haruna Umar in Maiduguri, Nigeria; Dan Ikpoyi in Agulu, Nigeria; Hilary Uguru in Asaba, Nigeria; Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal, and Sam Mednick in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso contributed to this report.