Nigeria's Jonathan takes early lead as votes tallied

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Sat, Apr 16 2011

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Nigeria votes to elect new president
Sat, Apr 16 2011
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Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan casts his ballot in his home village of Otuoke, Bayelsa state April 16, 2011. Nigerians voted in masses on Saturday in what they hope will be their first credible presidential election for decades and could set an example across Africa. REUTERS/Joseph Penney

By Matthew Tostevin

ABUJA | Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:53am EDT

(Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan took an early lead on Sunday as votes were tallied from around the nation, but his main rival Muhammadu Buhari put in a strong showing in the mainly-Muslim north.

Results from eight states including the capital Abuja and commercial hub Lagos put Jonathan at just over 6 million votes, with Buhari on 2 million, although six of those states lie in the largely-Christian south where Jonathan has most support.

Observers said voter turnout appeared to have been higher in the north than the south, meaning Buhari could easily close the gap as results from populous northern states come in.

"We are walking a tightrope," said Yusuf Tuggar, from Buhari's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and a candidate for governor in northern Bauchi State in an April 26 ballot. "People are getting excited."

Tens of millions voted on Saturday in what was tentatively described by observers as the most credible presidential election for decades in Africa's most populous nation.

Jonathan, the first head of state from the oil-producing Niger Delta, was considered the favorite going in to the polls but Buhari, a former military ruler from the dustblown Muslim north, is hoping to at least force a second round.

To avoid a run-off, the winner must get a simple majority and at least a quarter of the vote in 24 of the 36 states.

Buhari took around 60 percent of the vote in Kano, the most populous state in the north. Jonathan won just 16 percent.

"It is unfortunate but there is no need to panic," said Rabio Suliuman, returning officer for Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP).

"This election will be very close but we are still confident Jonathan will emerge as winner in the first round."

EXPECTATIONS RUNNING HIGH

Fearing the ruling party would try to fiddle the results -- the norm in ballots since army rule ended in 1999 -- Buhari supporters took to the streets in some northern cities.

Trouble flared in isolated areas.

Police were investigating a possible bomb blast in a brothel near a polling station in the city of Kaduna late on Saturday. A PDP official's house was burned down in the town of Azere.

Shots were fired in Bauchi and a car thought to be carrying fraudulent ballots was set ablaze in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. Youths stalked the streets armed with bows and arrows.
Should Jonathan become the first sitting president to lose an election, there could be trouble in his volatile home region the Niger Delta, home to Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.

Turnout was high in the oil region, where people often did not bother to vote in the past because they knew results would be rigged and feared intimidation by heavily armed thugs.

"It is a path that would have been hard to imagine four or even two years ago," said Chris Newsom, an adviser to civil society group Stakeholder Democracy Network in the Niger Delta.

Buhari's support was bolstered by a feeling among many in the north that Jonathan is usurping their right to another four years in power. Jonathan inherited office after his predecessor, northerner Umaru Yar'Adua, died last year in his first term, interrupting a rotation between north and south.

Although a second round of voting could deepen uncertainty and worsen Nigeria's polarization, it could also be a mark of deepening democracy in a country that sets an example for the rest of Africa.

"If it went to a second round that would be a massive achievement in a system that heavily favors the incumbent," said Antony Goldman of PM Consulting. "In the previous elections it was inconceivable."

(Additional reporting by Nick Tattersall in Abuja, Joe Brock in Kano, Joe Penney and Segun Owen in Yenagoa; Editing by Nick Tattersall)