results released - Cliffhanger as Nigeria Votes Along Fault Lines

results released - Cliffhanger as Nigeria Votes Along Fault Lines ; Early results released Saturday from a cross section of some polling units in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory were reflective of the sectional divide between the north and south, with voters from both sides casting their votes along regional and religious lines.

With 120,000 polling units in the 774 local government areas in the country, preliminary results from yesterday’s presidential poll show that President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party was leading in all states in the south, except possibly Osun State.

On the other hand, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari[rtd], presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, was leading by wide margins in the northern states of Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Niger, Bauchi, Jigawa, Gombe, Kebbi, Zamfara and Borno which may offset his lack of support across the south.

However, Jonathan and Buhari were able to win their respective polling units at Otazi playground in Otueke, Bayelsa State, and Sarkin Yara A Ward in Katsina State.

In his polling centre, Jonathan’s PDP won all 413 votes cast leaving other parties with no votes, while Buhari’s CPC scored 494; All Nigeria Peoples Party 4; Action Congress of Nigeria 1; Democratic Peoples Party 3; and PDP 0.

Notwithstanding the early results released in just a fraction of the 120,000 polling units nationwide, things would become clearer later today when more figures are released by the Independent National Electoral Commission and there is more clarity on the margin of victory across the poll units and wards nationwide.

Based on the voting patterns in the north and south, it is widely believed that the voter turnout in different sections of the country and voting margins will determine if there is an outright winner after the first ballot, or a possible run-off will be required to decide the winner of the presidential election.

For a victor to emerge from a presidential election, the constitution requires that the candidate must score the highest number of votes at the poll and secure 25 percent of the votes cast in at least 24 states in the federation.

Irrespective of which of the candidates emerges victorious from the first or second ballot, he would have to work twice as hard to heal the rift that the last 12 months and the election might have wrought on Nigeria, as reports from several states in the north indicated that religious sentiments played a huge role in yesterday’s election.

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