Nigerian Voters Face Ballot Delays and Sporadic Violence
- Civic groups report late start of voting in many areas
- Islamist militants fired artillery shells at Borno capital
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Nigeria’s general elections were marred by the late opening of many polling stations and sporadic violence in a tight race for the presidency between incumbent Muhammadu Buhari and multimillionaire Atiku Abubakar.
While the presidential and parliamentary polls officially opened at 8 a.m. on Saturday, by late afternoon, the electoral commission said 92.62 percent of total polling centers were open. The front-runners for the top job are Buhari, who’s campaigned on an anti-corruption platform, and Abubakar, who’s promised to boost economic growth but is dogged by graft allegations.