Good luck ... a man sells local newspapers with election headlines in Kaduna, Nigeria. Photo: AP
ABUJA: Goodluck Jonathan will retain the Nigerian presidency in what appears to be the nation's fairest vote since the end of military rule in 1999.
Mr Jonathan took almost twice as many votes as his closet rival in Africa's top oil-producing nation.
With results for all 36 states released, he won 22.5 million votes and took 21 states, compared with 12.2 million for his closest rival, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who won 12 states, the electoral commission said last night.
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Allegations of vote rigging led to street riots in some states, as results highlighted sharp divisions between the country's Muslim north, broadly loyal to Mr Buhari, 68, and the predominantly Christian south, where the 53-year-old incumbent is adored, particularly by the poor.
Opposition supporters in several northern cities attacked members of the ruling party.
Mr Jonathan found himself president by chance last year after the death of Umaru Yar'Adua. In the election campaign, he traded on his disadvantaged background as the son of a canoe maker with the slogan, ''If I can, you can.''
The vote was accompanied by less pre-election violence than in the past, and was a far cry from the violence-plagued 2007 general election.
Copyright, Blaise APLOGAN, 2010,© Bienvenu sur Babilown
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