Polls opened at 08:30 local time and is due to end within six hours.
Workers at The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have arrived at some of the 176,606 polling units scattered across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory that make up Nigeria.
With the arrival of INEC officials are voting materials – sensitive and non-sensitive materials.
Interestingly, many voters were already at polling units in anticipation of accreditation and voting commenced in earnest.
Early bird voters at the Shagari Quarters in Kano have disclosed that they were excited to cast their ballot in this historic election.
Ibrahim Uba, 72, came out as early as 05:00 GMT (06:00 local time) and said that he didn’t sleep all night as he just wants to exercise his right.
“Voting is everything to me if we really care about our country then we should all vote,” he said.
The mood in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state and hometown of Atiku Abubakar, one of the three presidential frontrunners, is one of calm anticipation.
Other than the increased presence of security operatives, it seems very much like business as usual. The day before the vote, supermarkets were open, cars on the road, and like much of the country, people were still in queues trying to get naira, petrol or both.
Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of support for the former Vice President, who is running for Nigeria’s top job for the sixth time.
“I’m confident that Atiku Abubakar will win,” says Jemima Jimoso, a student who travelled back to Yola to vote.
Voters at the polling station in Yola, home to presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in the capital of north-eastern Adamawa state, checked out their names.
All was now set for voting to start at this polling in Agulu in south-eastern Anambra state. Voters trickled in.
Anambra is the home base of Peter Obi, the candidate of Labour Party and one of the three frontrunners with realistic chances of winning the presidential race.
At 61, Obi is the youngest of the three – both Bola Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Party and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party are in their seventies.
Press Wait For Tinubu
There was a crowd of press personnel waiting expectantly to see Bola Tinubu, candidate for the APC party however, there was confusion about where he will actually be voting in Lagos.
His polling unit in Alausa lies empty, with no electoral officers present at 07.45 GMT (08.45 local time).
A few metres down the same road, opposite Ikeja City Mall, is another polling unit, where again there are no electoral officers, just journalists and camera-people set up, hoping to capture the presidential hopeful cast his vote.
Presently, Voting has commenced in polling unit 019, Ward 2 in Amatutu, Agulu town in Nigeria’s south-eastern Anambra state.
An 81-year-old, Peter Nedum, is the first person to cast his ballot here. This is the polling centre where the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is voting.
The sleepy town of Agulu woke up slowly on Saturday morning as residents started trickling to the polling centre to cast their ballots.
Despite security concerns in the south-east region, voters appeared eager to exercise their civic obligation.
Today’s vote is taking place amid a backdrop of economic instability in Nigeria.
Overall, inflation in 2022 stood at just under 19%, the highest in two decades.
The Ukraine war has had an impact but prices had been going up before the fighting began – caused by the closure of the border to many imports and a scarcity of foreign exchange.
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