Nigerians Elect State Governors Amid Concerns Over Violence

(Bloomberg) -- Nigerians voted on Saturday for state governors and assemblies in an election observers said was marred by violence, low turnout and the overbearing presence of security forces.

The balloting in 29 of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Africa’s biggest oil producer is the second round of general elections that saw President Muhammadu Buhari win a new and final four-year term last month in a disputed vote in which at least 39 people lost their lives. Seven people were confirmed killed in election-related violence across the country in the past 24 hours, according to the Nigerian Election Situation Room grouping of observers.

Voting ended at 2 p.m. at most polling centers, followed by the counting of ballots, with results only likely to start trickling in from Sunday.

“The low turnout of voters can only but be attributed to two factors, voter apathy arising from the effect of the disappointment of citizens over poor conduct of the Feb. 23 elections and the excessive deployment of military personnel,” the Situation Room said in a statement handed to reporters in Abuja, the capital. “There are reports of poll officials and observers arrested in some parts of the country by security personnel.”

Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai said earlier this week some politicians planned to use bombings and other acts of violence in a bid to influence the vote and he vowed that the military will take measures to contain the threats. The offices of the electoral commission in two states were set on fire overnight, while election monitors reported many incidents of ballot-snatching, vote buying and other irregularities across the country.

Buhari’s All Progressives Congress and the opposition People’s Democratic Party are the top contenders in the battle to run the states that are responsible in large part for delivering services in Africa’s most populous nation. The APC now controls almost two-thirds of the states, and any increase would boost the president’s support from the Governors Forum.

“The governors are much closer to the people and stand in a better position to deliver dividends of democracy in terms of basic facilities, amenities,” said Freedom Onuoha, a political science lecturer at the University of Nigeria in the southeastern town of Nsukka.

State governors are usually hotly contested seats being among the nation’s most powerful political offices, with some running budgets larger than those of smaller African nations.

Lagos Contest

The two parties are particularly keen to win in Lagos, the commercial capital that has 15 million to 20 million people and an economy of roughly $80 billion, according to Fitch Ratings Ltd., which makes it bigger than Ghana and similar to Kenya and Ethiopia. It’s home to the Nigerian headquarters of companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., Facebook Inc. and Nestle SA.

APC national leader Bola Tinubu has been the dominant political force in the state ever since he was its governor from 1999 to 2007.

The military has beefed up its presence in certain states, such as oil-rich Rivers, and in Benue, the epicenter of clashes in the central part of the country between crop farmers and cattle herders over grazing land that London-based Amnesty International said claimed about 2,000 lives last year.

Because Buhari’s APC has been banned from fielding a gubernatorial candidate in Rivers as a result of internal party disputes, it’s supporting the African Action Congress against the PDP.

Military Involvement

“We are worried about partisanship and involvement of military personnel in elections -- Benue, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom and Imo states are of major concern,” said Clement Nwankwo, executive director of the Abuja-based Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre. “We have seen unusual security deployment in a way that raises questions.”

The presidential and parliamentary elections last month drew criticism from some observer groups for problems with logistics, collation of results and reports of intimidation. But the U.S. congratulated Buhari on his 56 percent to 41 percent victory over the PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, and the U.K. government said “the Nigerian people can have confidence in the result.”

Abubakar rejected the result, saying there was massive rigging and has asked the election tribunal to review the vote.

--With assistance from Paul Wallace.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tope Alake in Lagos at talake@bloomberg.net;Ruth Olurounbi in Abuja at rolurounbi4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Karl Maier at kmaier2@bloomberg.net, Dulue Mbachu, Stephen Kirkland

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