With the votes already counted in 33 of Nigeria's 36 states, the 72-year-old Buhari received more than 14 million votes, compared to 11 million for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose five years at the helm of the richest country in Africa have been plagued by corruption scandals and an insurgency by Islamist Boko Haram militants, Reuters reported.
The Nigerian general election of 2015 was the fifth such election to be held since the end of military rule in 1999. Voters cast ballots for the President, members of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The elections were initially scheduled for February 15, but were postponed by six weeks to March 28 due to the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency in the country’s northeast.
The vote was eventually extended to March 29 due to delays and technical problems with biometric cards.
