Supporters of opposition candidate General Muhammadu Buhari's All Progressives Congress party celebrate what they said was the senatorial win in Kano Central district of APC candidate. Picture: Ben Curtis Supporters of opposition candidate General Muhammadu Buhari's All Progressives Congress party celebrate what they said was the senatorial win in Kano Central district of APC candidate. Picture: Ben Curtis
Lagos -
Opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari maintained his lead on Tuesday over incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in a tight race for the Nigerian presidency.
With votes in 18 out of the 36 states counted, Buhari was leading by about 2 million votes, having taken 10 states while Jonathan won eight.
Jonathan also won in the territory of the federal capital Abuja, according to the electoral commission.
Results of the remaining 18 states were expected later on Tuesday.
Despite Buhari's early lead, the race was expected to be close as results still remained to be announced in some states of the oil-rich Delta region, a Jonathan stronghold.
Fourteen presidential candidates competed for the highest office in Africa's most populous country.
The only candidates deemed to have chances of winning were Jonathan, who has led Nigeria since 2010, and Buhari, a former military ruler.
Nigerians also elected a parliament with 739 candidates contending for 109 Senate seats and 1 780 candidates for 360 National Assembly seats.
Jonathan's People's Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, a coalition of Nigeria's three largest opposition parties, led by Buhari, are expected to win the largest numbers of seats.
The PDP denied allegations of interference with vote counting after US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond noted “disturbing indications that the collation process - where the votes are finally counted - may be subject to deliberate political interference,” in a joint statement.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that “there was so far no evidence of nation-wide manipulation or intimidation. But it remains crucial that there should be no undue interference in the collation process that continues.”
In Lagos, offices and markets were closed following warnings of violence if the results were not accepted by all.
In Rivers state in the Delta region, police tear-gassed demonstrators while a mob set an electoral office on fire following allegations of rigging.
The polls were largely peaceful, though there was violence on Saturday, with 29 people killed in attacks blamed on the Islamist group Boko Haram.
To win, a presidential candidate needs more than half of the national vote and at least 25 per cent of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states. If no candidate wins outright in the first round, the election will go into a runoff, which can be won by a simple majority.
Voting had been postponed by six weeks for fear of Boko Haram attacks. The group has killed an estimated 14 000 people since 2009.
Sapa-dpa