Nigeria Election 2015: Live Results Of Nigerian Presidential Election, Updated Voting Dates

Live results from the 2015 Nigerian presidential election will be available online, but may take a bit longer than first anticipated.

Voters are going to the polls in what is expected to be one of the tightest races in Nigeria’s history, with incumbent Goodluck Jonathan facing former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari. But voting has faced a number of setbacks, with delays and militant attacks forcing the country to extend the voting time.

Officials decided on Saturday to push back the 2015 Nigerian election results and extend voting by at least a day.

Voting in Nigeria faced several problems. Ballot paper arrived late in several areas and many of the new digital voting card readers also encountered problems. The problems were highlighted by President Goodluck Jonathan, who had to wait more than 20 minutes to cast his ballot when the scanner would not read his fingerprint.

The Nigerian presidential election was also hampered by militant attacks on polling stations. Officials said Boko Haram killed at least 11 people in attacks at the voting polls.

In several places, Boko Haram reportedly warned residents to stay away from voting polls or risk death.

“They kept saying, ‘Didn’t we warn you to stay clear of polling stations?’ ” said Birin Fulani resident Baidu Lawan, who said at least one person was killed in an attack in his village.

The Nigerian election faced technical problems as well, as Al Jazeera noted.

“INEC’s official website was hacked but was quickly secured, said officials who said the site holds no sensitive material.

‘Struck by Nigerian Cyber Army!’ was the message left at www.inecnigeria.com.

Technical problems also plagued a new system for reading voting cards with biometric card-reading machines, prompting the electoral commission to promise an extra day of voting for some polling stations.”

But even with the problems, Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission said it would do everything possible to ensure all voters could cast their ballots.

“We will be here until the last person casts their votes. We have to extend the poll because the ballot papers were late arriving,” Felix Aladeotan, a volunteer INEC official, said in Lagos.

The live results from the 2015 Nigerian elections are expected to go on for several days, with final results now expected on Tuesday.

The election has already been delayed by several weeks. It was originally scheduled for February 14, but put off six weeks after attacks from Boko Haram.

And with the race being as tight as it is, there could be even more delays. If a candidate does not get more than 50 percent of the vote and at least a quarter in two-thirds of Nigeria’s states, the election will go to a runoff. In that case, a runoff election would be held seven days later.

Live results from the 2015 Nigeria presidential election can be found here or here.

[Image via Tempo360Degrees]