Nigeria: Incumbent Jonathan Ahead in Presidential Polls

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan casts his vote into a ballot box in Otuoke, his country home ward at Ogbia district in Bayelsa State, on April 16. (Pius Utomi Ekpei/Getty Images)

Early election results show that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is poised to win his re-election bid. Based on results so far, Jonathan has won at least 60 percent of the total vote, or around 22 million votes. His closest rival, ex-military chief Muhammadu Buhari, only has 30 percent of the vote. Jonathan is likely to take 16 of 17 southern states, according to Nigeria’s The Nation, citing preliminary results. The southern states, which include the massive city of Lagos, are more populous than the north. In Lagos, Jonathan is a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party. In the northern states, where he faces more opposition, the newspaper reports that he will likely take at least 25 percent of the vote. There was only a slight amount of election-related violence over the weekend. A People’s Democratic Party office was burned down on Sunday morning, according to Al Jazeera news. Some analysts say that the polling is being done credibly. “There’s good news in this Nigerian presidential election: we’re counting actual votes and people are interested in the count,” Chidi Odinkalu, of the Open Society Justice Initiative, told the news agency. This is Jonathan’s first run for president. He was acclaimed president in February 2010 when President Umaru Yar'Adua fell ill then died. He earned is nickname “Goodluck” by being in the right place at the right time.