After multiple delays, federal elections go ahead. President Muhammadu Buhari, who has promised a crackdown on corruption, is seeking a second term.
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nearly two hours after voting in Nigeria’s presidential election officially opened on Saturday, a poll worker grabbed Florence Michael’s thumb, ready to stamp her fingerprint so, finally, she could vote.
Her thumb hovered over the ink pad before he pushed her hand back and told her to wait. Again. Workers at the sidewalk polling station along Gana Street — blocks from election officials’ headquarters here in the capital, Abuja — were not quite ready for business.
It was yet another delay in the already delayed elections in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, and one of many scenes of exasperation among already frustrated voters. Last weekend, officials had postponed the vote by one week, citing logistical issues. That decision came in the middle of the night, hours before polls were to open.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who led Nigeria under military rule in the 1980s, has promised to continue a crackdown on corruption that helped him gain office in 2015, the country’s first peaceful democratic transfer of power. He is being challenged for a second term by more than 70 candidates, including his main rival, Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and perennial candidate.
Mr. Abubakar, facing allegations of corruption, has promised to create jobs — a potent pledge to an electorate consumed by concerns about unemployment — and to shore up Nigeria’s fragile economy, which is slowly recovering from a recession.
Worries about security, which is deteriorating in many parts of the country, hung over some areas where the tightly contested election could spark violence after results are announced as early as Monday. Both leading candidates are from the north, and many experts worried about whether a losing party would peacefully accept the results.
On Saturday night, Mr. Abubakar’s aides seemed to be spoiling for a fight, making allegations of irregularities before results were tabulated.
Analysts expected a lower turnout Saturday than if the election had taken place last weekend. Nigeria has no absentee voting, and many people must travel long distances to cast ballots in their home district where they are registered.
Having made that journey last weekend, many left after the vote was postponed, with no plans to return.
