Sunday Times 2
Nigeria votes in crunch presidential election
View(s):ABUJA, March 28 (AFP) -Polling stations opened in Nigeria today, the electoral commission said, as voters went to the polls to elect a new president in what is being seen as the closest campaign in the country’s history.
President Goodluck Jonathan is seeking a second four-year term as leader of Africa’s most populous nation against a strong challenge from the main opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari.
The vote has been seen as a referendum on Jonathan’s record over the past four years, with an escalation in the Boko Haram insurgency and the continent’s top economy hit by the global shock in oil prices.
Buhari, a former military ruler who has a reputation for fighting corruption, also charges that Jonathan has done little to tackle rampant graft in government, particularly in the oil and gas sector.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan (left) and APC main opposition party's presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari smile after signing the renewal of the pledges for peaceful elections in Abuja on March 26 (AFP)