[ 2015-04-01 ]

Buhari is new Nigeria President
Muhammadu Buhari, a former Nigerian army general
who first won power three decades ago in a
military coup, has won a historic presidential
election in Nigeria, maintaining a hefty lead over
rival Goodluck Jonathan.

The 72-year-old stretched Mr Jonathan by about 2
million votes, testament to the faith Nigerians
have put in him as a born-again democrat intent on
cleaning up Nigeria's perceived corrupt politics.

Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan's five years
in office have been plagued by corruption scandals
and an insurgency by the deadly Boko Haram
militia.

Results showed Gen Buhari won with 15 million
votes while Mr Jonathan had 12.8 million votes.

The elections in the oil producing West African
nation was divided along a complex mix of ethnic,
regional and in some cases religious lines.

To win the election, a presidential candidate
needed to win more than 50 percent of the total
votes nationally - and take at least 25 percent of
the vote in two thirds of the states.

Despite glitches that saw some voting extended
into a second day, and the killing of more than a
dozen voters by Boko Haram fighters in the
northeast, the election has been the smoothest
since the end of military rule in 1999 - a factor
that appears to have played a part in the
outcome.

"There are probably lots of reasons why the PDP
might have lost, but I think the key one is that
the elections just haven't been rigged," said
Antony Goldman, a business consultant with
high-level contacts in Nigeria.

"If you leave it to the Nigerian people they will
be ready to make big decisions and to make Nigeria
look something more like a conventional
democracy."

Source - Starrfmonline

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