opposition candidate muhammadu buhari has been the winner. the former military ruler defeated incumbent president goodluck jonathan. this marks the first time in nigerian history that a president has been democratically voted out of power. well yvonne ndege there are a lot of challenges facing buhari. when he was speaking to a lot of people celebrating today, it's corruption, it's poverty and security and the fight against the boko haram. what does the election mean for nigeria's future? how will he tackle all of these problems? >> well, barbara he has huge challenge toss overcome. the security that we've seen in this country. corruption has been an issue. billions of dollars have been lost over the last few years by the government because of corrupt practices that have been allowed to continue. there is also the issue of unemployment unemployment stands around 25% of the population. there is also a massive power crisis, a huge lack of electricity in nigeria which makes the cost of doing even the basic things so incredibly expensive. now a lo

how do you think nigeria will change under buhari. >> he's very encouragible. we believe he's going to use his skill to deal with security, corruption, and the economy. if he sticks with that he's going to do it. >> very determined. and then buhari can decide what he's dealing with, security, and the economy. >> obviously, the fight against boko haram delayed this election over the last couple of weeks. how will they change the situation there. the problem has been pretty intractable so far. >> at some point there were suspicions but this is the opportunity for him to redeem his i think. >> in what way do you think that will help his fighting against boko haram. >> in the nick of time he has the advantage of neighbors wanting to help as well as the a.u. force that has yet to be deployed when the money is available. so in the long term he has the force to fight this that goodluck jonathan did not have in his time. >> thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> the head of libya's tripoli based government has been sacked by his own minister. he was dismiss

x military ruler x military ruler -- ex-military ruler muhammadu buhari has a slight lead over the blood jonathan. and until midnight for an historic deal with iran, but first now to nigeria where there is still no clear winner from the presidential election two days ago. vote counting is underway with official results supposed to be coming out sometime this tuesday. her limitary results already from about half of the votes counted show that there was a slight lead for x military ruler muhammadu buhari ahead of the president goodluck jonathan. with the state most likely to lean toward the current president, that could change completely. this is the first time in nigeria's history that a challenger is seen as having a real chance of beating a president already and power. reporter: tehhe waiting game. the region is a key about agronomists election, but the incumbent's 95 victories -- 95% victories is prompted suspicions among observers and the opposition, who have already begun protesting. >> [speaking foreign language] reporter: it was hit hard by religious violence. the tension here is p

that's the margin with muhammadu buhari in the lead at the moment. we still have many states to come in. at this stage, you have to turn to the different political parties and check their moods. certainly, inside the governing party, the faces are much longer. they are struggling to work out how this election can be won. when you look at the results that have come in and look at some of the unofficial results that are also coming in from across the country. the opposition party, its confidence of victory. having said that it's dangerous to predict anything at all in nigeria and publicly both parties are saying they can win this vote. the surprise would be if it's not disputed by one side or the other. we may well get the results by the end of today. >> tell us about muhammadu buhari. >> reporter: well, he is of course, known for his days when he was last in power back in the 1980s. he came to power after a coup at the end of 1983 and then in 1984, he lasted a few months and was ousted himself. he is a muslim candidate from the north of the country. o

if legos is going to buhari it's not a surprise and always controlled by the buhari party and never under of the ruling party, the democratic party, that is president jonathan's party so it's not a complete surprise and analysts are saying that if jonathan does lose legos it's because he has alternating an incredibly powerful parts of nigerian society and decided to vote as a block of the legos state and some of the southwest states which were announced yesterday as being one won by buhari but there is a lot to play for, even if legos goes to buhari results of 17 other states come here and we can hear them now introducing officials of what we can expect a commencement of more results to start very soon. they were supposed to start about an hour ago. they are running quite late. >> yvonne for the time being and yvonne is reporting from abuja. it's a week since the nigerian military detained two al jazeera journalists in the north and they were embedded with the military before they were detained last tuesday and have been kept in that hotel since then and al jazeera is demanding their imme

more than 1,000 people died when the main opposition leader, muhammadu buhari led to incumbent leader goodluck jonathan back in 2011. four years on it's deja vu for nigerians. now it's also the continent's largest economy so people wait. they will find out soon who has won. haru mutasa, al jazeera lagos. >> the syrian government has reportedly sent one of its top military commander to recapture the city of idlib from rebel factions. government accused of launching chlorine gas attack. idlib was captured on saturday, second capital to fall into opposition hands. >>> the united nations says syrian refugees need urgent aid with resources dwindling fast. karen lyon malone reports. >> 63% of money pledged last year was collected. what should countries afford to donate compared to what they actually gave. some of the worst offenders are australia, south korea russia. needing a total of $8.7 million will provide only the equivalent of 1 american dollar per day. overburdened with refugees, mostly in turkey lebanon jordan egypt and iraq. oxfam says only 2% of those people have been offered any

how likely is buhari's lead to hold?ing on the electoral commission to announce the full results from the 18 remaining states. so far partial results are showing that the opposition candidate muhammadu buhari is leading with about 2 million votes. this is based on results from 18 of the country's 36 states. it is important to note that many states from the southeast where jonathan as popular have not reported their results yet. buhari has won in nigeria's two biggest dates lagos and kano. a tough race between goodluck jonathan and muhammadu buhari. francine: could the nigerians be looking at a difficult post electoral period? uche: this is the most hotly contested election since military rule ended in 1999. it is seen as a sign of progress but also a huge challenge in terms of stability. in a key oil-producing state in the southeast, we saw protesters tear gassed monday. they took to the streets alleging they had seen something that had some red flags in terms of voting there saturday. a curfew was put in place last nigh

journalists turned author who worked for muhammadu buhari.rnalists with a nigerian news outlet based in new york beyond the reach of nigerian authorities, and managing director much ait, the channel the opposition says is siding with the government which is why the incumbent's main rival refused to appear on the presidential debate that the channel broadcast. the accusations against axe it centers around coverage and this documentary in particular, called the real muhammadu buhari it was an hour-long matter that went beyond the track's record. >> and became the first to say as a woman, death by firing squad. ram rod stiff, never sniling. on the future should matter. and nothing about him sticks to the future. >> we'll take any platform to sell our party. they are not ready to walk into. we saw them as costly. incidently many agree with us. they see our leaders. they did not see that. >> a station like a it made it known they approve jonathan. during the election period they tried to be fair. i'm not defending the opposition party, but they ru

of these 10 have gone to buhari and eight have gone for jonathan.n though buhari is leading in the overall votes the number of votes alone doesn't settle the election. we can talk live now to yvonne our correspondent who is there at the election headquarters in the capitol abuja and it seems to be quite a slow process, doesn't it but we have to remember how vast an exercise this is. >> reporter: well that's right, it's a huge exercise some 60 million people it's believe participated in this election and over 150,000 polling stations and as you were just explaining there the candidate in this race not only has to win the majority of votes nationally, the candidate who is going to win this race also has to win at least 25% of the vote in 24 of nigeria's 36 states. now, if president goodluck jonathan or the main opposition candidate buhari both fail to do this this election will go to a runoff in a week's time and it will be the first time in nigeria democratic history there has been a runoff between two presidential candidates. >> all the while, while

. >> buhari comes from a reputation of not being corrupt. in a country in the worst stages stages of corruption this would be something that could be changed, that people want to see. >> reporter: buhari is popular among his supporters. he has an image of being incorruptible and disciplined. committing fraud could result in the death penalty but his critics say he doesn't have solutions to the problems facing nigeria today. >> the change that buhari's party is what this corruption fight will be, what it's going to look like and will it transform education? we don't know how. >> buhari now supports democracy, says he will improve employment. yvonne ndege, al jazeera nigeria. >> i asked why the presidential race is so close this time around. >> the opposition is much better organized, it's -- former president buhari is running his third campaign, it's much better organized, it's much more unified and the north is very very impatient for being out of a presidency for 13 of the last 15 years. so this is going to be a very, very tight election. >

what is the reaction being they voted for buhari? >> reporter: well peter, now i am in the hotel but i was out a few minutes ago and the streets remain quiet. stations have all remained closed. most of the people are also indoors. i can't say whether or not they are watching what is happening at the moment. it is quite difficult to know what their reaction is. but, i have been able to speak with some people on the phone who told me that while they remain calm and allow the process to go through until the last moment. >> okay. let's talk about the security situation in the northeast of the country. i know that's something you have been following quite closely. how important is it that whoever wins this election deals with the situation decisively? >> well security of course as you well know is very important. not just the people of the north, but the people of the whole country. it is more important to -- as the insurgency has been mostly here in the northwest. many feel that the present government hasn't done enough to bring the insu

jonathan is facing a challenge from buhari but already there is concern over the poll. they say they're concerned about political interference in the counting process and the winner won't be announced until tomorrow. we are in the capital who told us how the nigerian authorities are responding to those allegations of irregularities. >> the electoral commission here said that these accusations were basis and in fact u.s. officials went on to say they don't think there's been any political interference here. at the capital of abuja. you know that nigeria is comprised of 36 states. so far what the observers have been telling us, including the european union observers today, is that overall the election itself went well despite some technical glitches, despite some attacks in the northeast where boko haram operates. so the election went well. now the tricky part is the -- when they're transferred to the capital. that is where there could be some fear of political interference. >> i mentioned the results have been trickling in. jonathan given the edge but it really is an edg

however, muhammedu buhari has won some key states. in the northeast, it is expected that toraba state in the north would also go to home. yaba state in the northeast would go to him. i think the national publicity secretary is maybe jumping the gun a little bit but all indications are so far that muhammedu buhari is ahead ahead significantly, but a lot dependency on how many votes president good luck jonathan gets in delta state in the niger delta region. there are over 1,000,000.2 registered voters. >> still an unclear picture right now for the moment. live for us in nigeria. stay with al jazeera for the latest on the results in nigeria's election. >> still to come on the program in sport sharp shooting from kyle korver helps the atlanta hawks with another win in the nba. we'll have the details. >> hello again. you wouldn't normally expect to see a family of giraffes in the philippines, but there are a few on the island. along with many other animals from africa. we have the story on how they got there. >> it is dubbed a piece ever h

of these 10 have gone to muhammadu buhari, eight for goodluck jonathan.ammadu buhari leads overall, the numbers of votes alone does not settle the election. ynonne ndedge has more from abuja. >> the results from 18 other states in this presidential election are yet to be announced, including nigeria's popular state lagos, with a population of 17-20 million people, and the highest number of registered voters. once there's a clear winner in terms. national picture, one candidate getting the majority of the votes, there's another phase, that the winner of the election has to get 25% of the votes in two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states. we know from the release of data so far from the electoral commission that the main opposition presidential candidate muhammadu buhari is leading by some 2 million votes. with 18 other states to be announced that could change. the electoral commission and candidates are calling on nigerians to be patient and let the commission do its job >>> it's been a week since the nigerian military detained two al jazeera journalists. ahmed i

he lost by at least 2 million votes to challenger muhammadu buhari. jeffrey brown reports. >> brown: supporters of buhari celebrated in the northern city of kaduna, an opposition stronghold, as word of the results spread. >> i am out because i am happy about the change of government. >> brown: later, president jonathan called buhari to congratulate him, making it official. the winner, a muslim and former military ruler, swept the muslim north. crucially, he also scored well in states across southern nigeria, where christians predominate and jonathan had his power base. the outcome stunned the ruling party, and one of its officials even disrupted the electoral commission's proceedings charging, "we have lost confidence in you!" but for buhari's all progressives congress, the results were momentous. >> we are all happy because we are witnessing history in the sense that this is the first time in nigeria that a sitting government would be voted out of power using purely democratic means. >> brown: buhari initially came to power in a military coup 30 year

votes have been counted in 18 states. 10 states have gone to muhammadu buhari, eight voted for goodluck jonathan. even though muhammadu buhari leads overall, the number of votes alone - that does not settle the election. . >> well the results from 18 states in this presidential election are yet to be announced. including nigeria's popular state, legos, which has the highest number of voters. once there's a winner in terms of the national picture, one candidate getting the majority of the votes, there's another phase. the winner has to also get at least 25% of the votes in two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states. we know from the release of data that the main opposition presidential candidate is leading by some 2 million votes. with 18 other states to be announced, that could change. the electoral commission and the candidates are calling on nigerians to be patient and let the electoral commission do its job. >> it's been a week since the nigerian military detained two al jazeera journalists. ahmed idris and ali mustafa were detained and kept in their hotel. al jazeera is demanding their relea

laura: what is muhammadu buhari's vision for nigeria? laura: he's a strong man. he is promising security is a priority. he is promising leadership and dignity to the armed forces who have been humiliated and struggling to suppress boko haram. they are promising direction for the economy. that is not his strong suit so we are waiting to see the appointments that he makes. he is very strong about the rule of law. this is a country where we know that billions of dollars go missing, particularly from the oil budget, and there is talk of a crackdown they are from the new leadership. i suspect this on public officials, who have taken up seen amounts of money may be feeling nervous tonight. laura: you've talked to many nigerians during the campaign trail. what is the decisive issue? andrew: security in the north particularly. down south, more a question of the economy. that all the revenues are drying up. and the currency has had a bit of difficulty in the past few weeks. corruption is something that unites everyone and discussed. there is a sense that over years, this

early results show the former military ruler muhammedu buhari has outedged president goodluck jonathan. tell us exactly what happened during those scuffles and whether that affected the counting. >> things have calmed down now but i've never witnessed anything like what i just saw a few minutes ago. as the electoral commission boss was reading out the results a man went up to the podium and identified himself as a party agent of the ruling people's democratic party. that's the party of president goodluck jonathan. we now know that it was a former government minister. he grabbed the mic and started screaming, accusing the independent international independent commission of not taking onboard complaints by the ruling party about results that were issued yesterday. things got louder and when security agents approached him to try to take the mic away from him, a scuffle broke out for quite a number of minutes about 15 minutes results announcement was suspended because it was impossible for the electoral commission officials here to start announcing results because the foreign minister woul

of these, 10 states have gone to buhari while eight have voted for jonathan.though buhari leads in overall votes the number of votes alone doesn't settle that election. more from the capital abuja. >> reporter: well, the results from 18 other states in this presidential election are yet to be announced including nigeria's most populous state lagos which has a population 17 to 20 million people and the highest number of registered voters. once there is a clear winner in terms of the national picture one candidate getting the majority of the votes there is another phase the winner has to also get 25% of the votes in two-thirds of nigeria's 36 states. we know from the release of data so far from the electoral commission that the main opposition president candidate mohamed buhari is leading by some 2 million votes but with 18 other states still to be announced that could change. the electoral commission and the key candidates are calling on nigeria's just to be patients and let the electoral commission do its job. >> security does remain tight as people wait for t

the incumbent jonathan goodluck or the main opposition candidate muhammadu buhari will have to tackle corruption unemployment and challenges brought on by falling global oil prices. there are concerns about violence. there'll probably be some violence. i'm not worried about nation-wide violence. the fact that there has been a healthy discussion over the past year will be helpful. >> this highly anticipated vote comes after a 6-week delay. >> the electoral commission had problems distributing voters cards, and are testing a new identification system which is raising concerns and it's a logistical challenge, with 60 million expected to vote in 120,000 polling stations. but they say they are ready. >>> german prosecutors have found doctors notes excusing the co-pilot of germanwings from work on the day he flew a plane into the french alps. fuelling suspicions that andreas lubitz was hiding an illness before the crash killing 150 people. we have this report from his home town montabaur in jeremy. >> reporter: a president pays his respects. [ bell tolls ] >> reporter: more information emer

the president is neck and neck with his challenger, buhari. has tried and failed three times to get elected. the election was delayed by six weeks because of security concerns. both sides say they want toengd the conflict with boko haram in the north of the country. but the parties have been accused of using the fighting as a political football instead of directly addressing the insurgency. the economy will be on voter's minds. falling global oil prices have rocked the country's finance, and that is not helped by the corruption which still haunts the political and business world. both sides are promising to do more to tackle the problem. and two al jazeera journalists covering the elections in nigeria have been detained in a northern city. both of nigerian nationals who are confined in their hotel. they equipment has been confiscated after being questioned by the military on tuesday. the army has accused the pair of operating without protection or accreditation, and says they will be held until further notice. both were embedded with the milit

president jonathan is up against muhammadu buhari in the tightest election in years. >> reporter: heed nigeria from jan 1984 until august 1985 after taking power in a military coup. he has since tried and failed three times to become president. [ applause ] >> reporter: when he was in power the former military leader jailed journalists without charge and banned public demonstrations. but at 73 his supporters say he has changed. >> he comes with a history of being a fair person. a history of not being corrupt. and for a country in its worst stages of corruption this would be something that could be -- be change that people want to see. >> reporter: buhari is popular among his supporters. when he was in power, he introduced a policy called the war against indiscipline to bring back public morality in which committing fraud could result in the death penalty. but his critics say he doesn't have solutions to the problems facing nigeria today. >> the change that buhari's party is proposing is a wish list. in corruption we're going to fight corruption. we don't know how. what will this look

i think it's still early to tell if lagos goes in the direction of muhammadu buhari it's difficult to see how he's not going to win this election. but so far they're urging people to be patient and wait for official results. >> well, yvonne, i know you'll stay on it. yvonne ndege. thanks. >>> two al jazeera journalists were held in their hotel in maiduguri, al jazeera is demanding their release. >>> thomas greenfield, the assistant secretary of state for african affairs she hopes that the two are released soon. >> we were very surprised by that and very concerned as well. as you know, the u.s. is committed to freedom of the press, and a free media. the media has played an important role here in reporting on the election, and your reporters were part of that process. it is our hope that the nigerian government will release them soon. >> iran and six major world powers are struggling to reach a deal on the country's nuclear future before a self-imposed deadline on tuesday. u.s. secretary of state john kerry has told al jazeera that foreign ministers are working very hard to reach an acc

what would change under buhari?e to choose what -- it is a little too soon to say what will change but the big question is whether they will be -- not just if buhari w ins, but an acceptance of this when in a kong, clear, transfer of power. he did a wonderful book on the rise of a liberal democracy and nigeria is a question about -- is it a liberal democracy? the real question is -- if buhari wins, will be loser goodluck jonathan, except the results come i will the army except the results come and will there be a clean and voluntary transfer of power? if that happens, that is even more significant than buhari's new powers because it the gin -- because it means the nigerian policy is rooted. olivia: will the christian oligarchs accept the buhar presidencyi?? gideon: the answer is possibly. the leaders from the north in the south have traded off power every eight years. that got a little bit messed up when one died early, and jonathan good luck took over before the eight years were up, but i think it can happen and th

of them, 12 have gone to muhammedu buhari and 10 to president jonathan. we are in nigeria where things have gotten a bit contentious over the voting process. yvonne what is the latest there and how soon might we expect more results? >> in the last few minutes the electoral commission announced more results. the main on that pigs presidential candidate muhammedu buhari is now leading with 13 of nigeria's 36 states and the incumbent president goodluck jonathan that ha 12 states plus here the capitol known as the federal capitol territory. not only does the winner have a win a clear majority in terms of the national number of votes counted, after that, there's another part to this process. they also have to win at least 25% of the vote in 24 of nigeria's 36 states. if neither of the two leading candidates get this, there will be a run off in a week's time. it will be the first time in nigeria's democracy that there's ever been a runoff. we still have results from 11 states around the country to be announce said. at the moment, the electoral commission offici

jonathan goodluck main opponent is bare muhammadu buhari, a retired general that ruled. he ran for president in 2003, 2006 and "11. he's a muslim fulani coming from katsima state >>> nigeria's ministry pushed them out of the state. the army announced a success in borno state on the eve of election day. from the capital we have this report. >> reporter: the nigerian ministry said it has captured a boko haram state. in a rare address a military spokesperson gave the statement. terrorists died. many have been captured in the process. >> the home of the terrorists have been destroyed. >> reporter: it can't be verified. restrictions have been pleased on the society and the media and accessing the north-east. al jazeera journalists have been confined to the hotel since tuesday. the army accused them of operating without accreditation, and they'll be held without further notice. both were embedded with the military. the al jazeera news crew has been prominent in reporting events in the north-east of the country, and has been one of the few, if not only sources of information fr

corruption also dogged jonathan's presidency where his main challenger muhammad buhari comes in. he is standing on an anti- corruption ticket, his reporters like ifia malifa regarding him as the only leader can clean up the country. >> the general message every nigerian wants to move forward wants significant change in their life. >> but buhari is not without his own skeletons, he was a former military dictator who ruled nigeria with a iron fist in the eighties before being overthrown himself. >> a change in leadership could mean significant political upheaval for nigeria, the continent's largest oil producer and there are fears there could be repeats of the post election violence the country saw during its last election four years ago, which left hundreds of people dead. >> glor: that was debora patta a wave of trouble hits a popular spring break spot. and a little girl sneaks out for a slushie run on a bus in the middle of the night. when the "cbs evening news" continues. >> glor: it has been an especially busy spring break season for police in panama city beach florida the tro

four years ago in the north when general buhari lost to goodluck jonathan, about 800 people were killedh. this time around, just two days before the election both men signed a peace pact and called on their supporters to remain peaceful whatever the results. any candidate who doesn't accept the results has the ability to seek redress in the locals. that's what they're telling their supporters. nigerians are hopeful this time optimistic that things will remain calm and that people will not take to the streets. >> whoever takes over has got a lot on their plate. the country's been very much in the international spotlight in recent month, hasn't it? >> reporter: well, just makes you wonder why anybody wants this job in the first place. take a look at the insurgency in the north. boko haram has been around for six years. in the last six weeks, they've recorded some amount of success, but there's still a lot to be done there. then the economy. nigeria is an oil-based economy. and with low oil prices the economy needs to be shored up one way or the other. they've also got to tackle a lack of

goodluck jonathan and muhammadu buhari are in the tightest race since the end of military rule 60 years ago. >>> also another crucial day for greece. >> lucy the greek prime minister right here. they've submitted their new reform plans just in the nick of time. now, if these plans are accepted by its creditors and the rest of europe, they'll release the next big chunk of rescue cash. but let me tell you, time is ticking. come april, greece will run out of this. >>> welcome to "gmt." it is 1:00 p.m. in switzerland and 12:00 noon here in london. the last audience with the queen for david cameron. campaigning for the u.k. general election is finally under way. polling day is in 5 1/2 weeks. at the moment the result is too close to call. well, let's take you straight to phillipa tomas. too close to call, unpredictable. does it feel exciting? >> reporter: it really does feel very exciting lucy. i was standing here on the day that margaret thatcher left office in 1990. then in 1997 when tony blair brought labor government back to britain after 18 years. i think this feels like the most exciti

on the ballot incoming president jonathan goodluck and retired general muhammadu buhari. voters faced violence from boko haram. 41 people were killed mainly in the north-east of the country. after a deadly attack gunmen yelled that they had warned people to stay away from the bowls. from from ynonne ndedge in abuja. >> reporter: raphael casts his vote for a president and parliamentians at the provincial station in abuja. things wept smoothly here. this process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i voted, i believe that it could take us to the level we want to go. under security. education and structure. >> there was some violence in the north. several were killed when boko haram attacked voters going to polling stations. thousands of agents were deployed to protect voters. in the state where there has been election-related violence voter registration was delayed by hours. hundreds died in 2011. voters were undeterred. >> i shouldn't be afraid because i know my hand is behind the creator. and there's nothing that i should fear for. if i do it someone w

remember the main candidate muhammadu buhari boycotted the debate, and the feeling is in this looked good for jonathan and not muhammadu buhari >>> still to come for you on the al jazeera america nouri al-maliki, heading to berlin. a great leader prepares for tough talking on money in a meeting with the german chancellor >>> israel's president starts the process of finding a coalition to run the country. and in football steven gurr jed gets a red card -- gerard gets a red card after less than a minute on the pitch. we'll tell you what happened later. - - - al jazeera america presents "motherhood on ice". tonight, 10:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america >> the stream, >> your digital community >> you pick the hot topics and express your thoughts the stream it's your chance to join the conversation only on al jazeera america >> tonight. >> you have to look at the suffering of these children. >> director of unicef, anthony lake. >> every one of those numbers is an individual child. >> helping the innocent victims of war. >> what can unicef do? >> there's a very short answer... our bes

on the ballad jonathan goodluck and chief retired general muhammadu buhari. 56 million are registered to vote. we get more. >> raphael cast the vote for president and parliamentarian at the natural assembly office in abuja. he's one of 60 million taking part in an historic exercise. things wept smoothly. this process is happening in 120,000 locations across the country. >> i believe that it can be close to the level we want the country to go. the issue of unemployment security and structure. as expected there was violence in the north. several were killed when boko haram fighters attacked fighters. thousands were deployed to protect voters much in kaduna state, where there has been violence voter registration was delayed by hours. hundreds died in fighting during the last election in 2011, voters were under terred. >> i shouldn't be afraid. my hands are there. there's nothing that i should fear for. choosing my leader is on my hands. even though somebody is angry with what i did, well, it doesn't have anything to do with my life. thousands monitored the vote. permanent cards were used

president goodluck jonathan is facing off against former military dictator, muhammadu buhari, to leada's largest economy, its biggest oil producer and home to 173 million people. one man must win more than 50% of tomorrow's vote to avoid a runoff >> sreenivasan: jonathan, a christian from the south, has been in power since 2011. buhari, a muslim from the north, is a retired general who ruled nigeria in the 1980s, following a military coup. he is running on an anti- corruption platform. >> sreenivasan: but hanging over the election, and sidelining normal, election-year issues, is the rise of boko haram. the islamic militant group has killed more than a thousand civilians this year alone, and controls parts of northern nigeria, it recently pledged allegiance to the so-called islamic state. president jonathan cited the threat from boko haram when, in early february, he delayed this election six weeks. now, jonathan says the army has beat back the group, even though many areas in the north will still have no polling stations. just today, the military said it recaptured a northeastern town

in nigeria, former military ruler muhammadu buhari is leading in the presidential election.ith over half of states declared, buhari is leading by about two million votes, threatening to make president goodluck jonathan the first incumbent to lose at the polls in nigeria's history. the polling took place amid violent attacks which killed an estimated 50 people. addressing the u.n. security council by video stream, mohammed ibn chambas, head of the un office for west africa, described the ongoing threat from the militant group boko haram. mr. ibn chambas: the group continues horrific acts against women and children. we have received reports that children particular have been recruited, objected, maine, and killed. schools are no longer safe places of learning, and many continue to be attacked, looted, and destroyed. several schools in the area also remain close. amy: meanwhile, two nigeria journalists covering boko haram and the elections for al jazeera have been detained in their hotel room in maiduguri for a week. nigerian authorities have accused ahmed idris and ali mustafa

incumbent president goodluck jonathan would pull through that and bringing up the opposition candidate buhari, they have to get two-thirds of the vote plus one. we spoke to electoral officials who have taken a break. they're still waiting for many of the results to come down to the capital. what we're seeing here is an exercise in which the representative of the election commission takes to the podium just mind me and announces those results. we're being told that it could be several hours before results in will come through. we're told to be peeped to be here the whole night. >> we'll wait for the result in a few moments. thank you. >>> well it's nearly a week since the nigeriaen military detained two al jazeera journalists in the north. they've been held in their hotel in maiduguri. al jazeera is demanding their release. >>> germanwings co-pilot suspected for crashing a plane in the alps had been treated for suicide tendencyies. germany's state prosecutor said that investigators have yet to find any clues as to andreas lubitz's motivation, but confirmed that he was in therapy up until the c

underway in nigeria, the incumbent president goodluck jonathan is facing a challenge from muhammadu buhari a former military leader. thousands took to the streets on sunday alleging voting irregularities in the oil producing river states. we have more from the capital. >> reporter: river state is a strategic state in the elections. it's a key battle state between the ruling party. the people's democratic party and the main opposition. what voters are saying is that many of the election material and all important result sheets didn't arrive. as a consequence, they were unable to vote. they want the independent electoral commission to investigate. there was huge concerns what the impact of all of this will be. tensions were high. here is my summary of the reports happening around the country. up to 15,000 opposition supporters protest outside the offices in the oil-rich southern region. they say they didn't get a chance to vote on saturday because electoral materials and result sheets never arrived. the electoral boss is investigating what happened. it is believed the ruling party lost the e

muhammadu buhari does look poised for victory. at the last count he was 3 million votes ahead of his rival goodluck jonathan. i run and united states have agreed -- iran and the united states have agreed to extend a deadline. it had been midnight tonight. they will continue into tomorrow. both sides say they have had enough progress to continue negotiations. lufthansa knew the copilot to crashed and airbus into the alps had suffered from a depressive episode when he took several months leave during his training for his license. those are the top stories. back with some business news. we will start in the u.k. where a campaign is underway. the economy of course taking center stage. reporter: that is right. conservatives and labor are head to head. it will be interesting to see how voters look to each party. they want to know the economy is in safe hands. the economy grew well last year. unemployment is a low 5.6 percent and consumer confidence is at plus four in march, the highest level it has been in 12 years. now david cameron ha

president goodluck jonathan is faig facing a strong challenge from former military leader muhammedu buhari. it is a three die lock down is in sierra leone. the west african nation has been dealing with the worst ebola outbreak in the world. almost 12,000 people have been infected last year. 33 new cases were reported there last week. officials say they put the curfew in place to fight complacency. >>> for more than three decades harry reid has been a mainstay on capitol hill. but the senator says that is going to change. as libby casey says, the nevada democrat says he plans to retire in 2016. >> we've got to be more concerned about the country the senate, the state of nevada than us and as a result of that i'm not going to run for reelection. going >> reporter: a big announcement, delivered by a members of congress on social media. the tiny coal town called searchlight, nevada, to the united states senate. harry reid loss the majority leader position when the republicans took that position from him. an exercise accident that damaged the left of his face and eye. >> we need to make sure th

the leading contender muhammadu buhari is seen as a better and credible alternative to the counter enbumt and it seems like nigeria across the country are singing and preaching for change. prior to the election the parties skyped an agreement and they pledge that they'll knor whoever wins. sounds like the independent electoral commission is doing a lot of work to make sure it's free, fair and credible. i believe many have come out to vote. we hope it will be respected and the candidates accept defeat if they lose. >>> two other al jazeera journalists that have been deployed have been detained. they have been held in a hotel by the military on tuesday. both were embedded with the military in the most before being detained. al jazeera is demanding their unconditional release. >> police fired tear gas at an angry crowd. since friday people have been told it stay indoors. some defied the order. they came looking for food. when there wasn't enough. fights broke out. this is an impoverished neighbourhood, and a hot bed for ebola cases. hundreds defied the crackdown. >> people are desperate for

with three-quarters of the country's states counted, buhari led by two million votes.ey brown reports. >> brown: hundreds of women in southern nigeria weren't waiting for the results. they rallied in port harcourt, demanding an election do-over. >> we no votes! >> brown: nigerian television broadcast images of protesters blocking streets and claiming irregularities. police fired tear gas to break up the rally. the opposition party flatly accused the ruling people's democratic party of rigging the count. >> absolutely what we have here is an attempt to steal the votes of our people with the militias set off by the party to avoid democracy. >> brown: still, turnout was high and the voting itself appeared to be generally smoother than in the past. >> we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. "there are disturbing indications that the collation process... may be subject to deliberate political interference. assistant secretary of state for african affairs, linda thomas- greenfield, was in the nigerian capital abuja today, watching the process. i spo

i think the feeling is this looked good for jonathan and didn't look good for buhari. >> the nationalecurity and the battle against boko haram that may have dominated campaign. there are many other issues including chronic water shortages. a report from nigeria's biggest city lagos. >> nuvenl men who formed the water. the city's walt company supplied 945 million lighters of water and now for just seven million of the city's 20 million residents. >> is where the water is come can. a hefty demand for water is high. we have to walk long hours, but it pays well. >> their customers are far from happy, though. spending $100 every month on water from the vendors? >> i feel bad. i feel very very bad. i think the government should come and help us to put water for us. it's easy for us. >> another group cashing in on the water shortage this factory alone. 1.5 million bottles of water a day. there is not in sight. with the list of 1,500 people moving from other parts of the country to the city every day. it's 40 million in juv 5iers the demand for water by 2020 the city water companies says it c

muhammad buhari has been elected president. >>> another newsin

i think the feeling is this looks good for jonathan and it didn't look good for buhari. >> an afghanoman lynched by a mop after being accused of burning pages of the quran has been buried. afghan officials say they found no evidence against her. 11 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. >> the iraqi ministry of defense has released a video of airstrikes tathing the islamic state of iraq in the levant in areas north of baghdad. according to the mod, more than sent isil fighters were killed in airstrikes in samara. the iraqi army has been gaining ground in the region but isil continues to hold parts of tikrit. meanwhile, activists say syrian rebels have captured several government airmen after their helicopter crashed in the northwest. pictures posted on social media have said to show the helicopter going down in idlib prove incident. >> tunisia's president said a thirty attacking involved in the bardeau museum shoot something on the run. the ministry is urging all citizens to help them locate this man. israel's president says that the next government will have to bri

debate and i think the feeling is that this looked good for jonathan and it didn't look good for buharie fact he wasn't there but you saw jonathan as i say, taking questions from the public. >> okay. thank you very much indeed. >>> still ahead this half hour: israel's president calls for the country's next government to focus on healing after a stormy election. >> a mayor in peru wants to paint over every mural in this historic city center. broadcast journalism does. >> the new home for original documentaries. al jazeera america presents "motherhood on ice". tonight, >> the new al jazeera america primetime. get the real news you've been looking for. at 7:00, a thorough wrapup of the day's events. then at 8:00, john seigenthaler digs deeper into the stories of the day. and at 9:00, get a global perspective on the news. weeknights, on al jazeera america . >>> the top stories here on al jazeera. how thy forces seized control of the airport in the third largest city in yemen. on the way to the president's stronghold in aden. fierce fighting in the libyan capitol tripoli has left peace talks