Voting has come to an end in most polling stations across Nigeria in what has been a very eventful elections marked by reported delays in a number of polling stations. but the National Electoral Commission (INEC) has promised that anyone still in the queue at 14:00 (13:00 GMT) can still vote.

 

About 85 million Nigerians finally went to the polls to chose from 73 candidates, a new president after waiting impatiently for the election that was delayed for a week because of logistical “challenges,” just hours before polls were set to open.

 

President Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)  cast his ballot in his hometown of Daura in the northern state of Katsina. After voting he was asked if he would congratulate his rival if he lost, he said: "I will congratulate myself. I'm going to be the winner.”

 

His main rival, Atiku Abubakar, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also cast his vote at Ajiya in Yola North Local Government Area of Adamawa State and called on all registered voters to turn out in their numbers to vote.

 

The PDP Vice presidential candidate Peter Obi told the BBC that he found the voting process "clumsy" after he exercised his franchise.

 

"The process is a bit clumsy, it wasn't as smooth as I expected it to be. It took a while for us to go through the process," he said.

 

"I hope and pray that it all goes well," he added.

 

Apart from delays and pockets of violent incidents, the whole voting process was smooth and peaceful with many voters waiting patiently for the INEC officials to take them through the elections process.

 

 

The results are expected within the next couple of days. The candidate with the most votes is declared winner as long as they have at least one-quarter of the vote in two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states and the capital. Otherwise there is a run-off.