Otuoke, Nigeria---Nigerians headed to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president in a knife-edge vote against a backdrop of security fears but new technology delayed the process, affecting even the outgoing president.
Boko Haram appeared to carry through their pledge to try to disrupt the vote, attacking two polling stations in the northeastern state of Gombe, leaving at least two voters dead.
One election official said after the shootings in Birin Bolawa and Birin Fulani: "We could hear the gunmen shouting, 'Didn't we warn you about staying away from (the) election?'"
Polling stations had earlier opened at 0700 GMT across the country but the late arrival of officials and materials delayed the accreditation process before voting proper from 1230 GMT.
Handheld technology to read biometric voter identity cards is being used for the first time, which the country's electoral commission hopes will cut voter fraud that has blighted previous elections.
An apparent card reader malfunction forced President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife Patience to hang around in the scorching heat in his hometown of Otuoke then leave while the problem was resolved.
"Maybe it's me?" Jonathan joked to reporters in the southern state of Bayelsa but pleaded for calm as reports filtered in of similar delays around the country, including the capital Abuja.
The 57-year-old, in his trademark fedora hat and black suit, later returned and was accredited using the old manual system.
Jonathan's ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has voiced concerns at the technology, calling it untested, while the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) has backed its use.
APC candidate Muhammadu Buhari, in a white robe topped with a traditional Muslim cap, was accredited without a hitch using the card reader in his hometown of Daura, in northern Katsina state.
Fourteen candidates are contesting the presidential poll, while 2,537 hopefuls from 28 parties are vying for 469 seats in the National Assembly at the same time.
- Partisan support -
Jonathan's PDP has been in power since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999 but the result is far from clear this time, with the opposition in its strongest position ever.
The president's inability to tackle Boko Haram -- until recently -- has dominated his tenure and while Nigeria became Africa's largest economy on his watch, global oil shocks have hit the country hard.
Even Jonathan has admitted that the election is close.
"I cannot recall an election more important than this in the history of our nation," he said on Thursday.
AFP
