Nigeria opposition rejects early vote lead for ruling party
Tensions are mounting in Nigeria’s capital as election officials continue releasing official results from Saturday’s presidential vote
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Tensions rose Monday during the counting of Nigeria's hotly contested presidential election when representatives from the parties of the two main opposition candidates walked out in anger from the center where state-by-state results were being announced.
With 11 of Nigeria's 36 states having reported as of Monday evening, ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu was leading with 46% of the 6.7 million counted votes so far. He was followed by the main opposition party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who had 29%, and third party candidate Peter Obi, who had 20%.
In order to win, the candidate who leads the popular vote must also win at least a quarter of the votes in two-thirds of the states and the capital, Abuja.
Tempers flared Monday in Abuja where representatives of all the parties awaited the results. The two leading opposition parties claimed there were disparities between the results announced by the election commission and what their representatives learned at the polling stations.
