Nigeria Set to Elect Governors in Africas Largest Poll

The 36 governors are among the most powerful politicians in Africa's biggest oil producer and top economy.

The voting that started at 8am saw Nigerians queuing to make their final decision about the best leader.

With so much at stake, candidates in past polls have often played dirty, snatching ballot boxes, manipulating voter turn-out and intimidating them.

Muhammadu Buhari beat President Goodluck Jonathan last month with 15.4 million votes against 13.3 million, in a vote that was considered free and less violent than past polls.

"It will be slightly dirtier, a bit rougher in some places. Locals are more invested in the process around them. The federal government is like a no man's land," said Folarin Gbadebo-Smith, head of Nigeria's Centre for Public Policy Alternatives.

Multiple voting and ballot box stuffing

Legislative polls also shifted power away from the People's Democratic Party (PDP), which has run Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999, to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It left the APC with a majority in both houses which is seeking to build on its gains, while the PDP will hope it can claw back power, especially in two battlegrounds – the megacity of Lagos and the oil hub of Rivers.

In all 30 states hold elections, with six sitting them out since they had by-elections in the last few years.

"The Nigerian army has directed all units to remain vigilant to prevent any attempt to endanger the lives of Nigerians," the army said in a statement on Friday.

Biometric voting cards that were used for the first time in last month's poll and helped prevent fraudulent practices like multiple voting or ballot box stuffing, will again be used.

"The card reader is the only way that rigging on a large scale can be stopped in this country," Abubakar Momoh, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) told Reuters.

Outgoing APC Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola is credited with transforming a megacity of some 21 million and an economy twice the size of Kenya's through infrastructure projects, although he has also been criticized for slum clearance.

By Musalia Wycliffe

Source: Reuters