Nigeria's president defended his sweeping win of a second term as free and fair and appealed to a 'common love of country' as his top challenger vowed to go to court with allegations of fraud.
While many frustrated Nigerians had said they wanted to give someone new a try, Buhari, a former military dictator, profited from his upright reputation in an oil-rich nation weary of politicians enriching themselves instead of the people.
Challenger Abubakar said he would have conceded"within seconds" if the vote had been free and fair. Instead, he alleged"manifest and premeditated malpractices" in many of Nigeria's 36 states. YIAGA Africa, which deployed more than 3,900 observers, said its parallel vote-counting project found official results largely tracked with its own but called on the electoral commission to look into"inconsistent" turnout figures.
Nigeria was peaceful after the winner was announced. Both Buhari and Abubakar are Muslims from the north, avoiding regional tensions in the vast country with a largely Christian south. Buhari received 15.1 million votes, or 55%, the electoral commission said. Abubakar received 11.2 million, or 41%. The average national turnout was 35.6%, continuing a downward trend."The rigging was so obvious," said one Abubakar supporter in Kano, John Orerere."You cannot expect someone to be smiling after robbing him of his hard-earned result," said Anthony Chigbo, a political activist in southeastern Anambra state.
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