neck and neck race with the main opposition candidate our correspondent adrian krishna reports from yola in northeastern nigeria. sophia philip mudd and her colleagues at the federal hospital in yola may look happy but deep down angry in april and may last year they went on strike to demand higher pay but instead of a raise the government refused to pay them for the two months they didn't work nobody below us we need to get justice. we want dead then justice is throughout the country federal health workers are on a three day warning strike that will end on wednesday. the health workers demand for their remaining salaries to be paid by the federal government insist that they didn't work for these two months and this is why they will not be paid. union representatives accused the government of not focusing enough on the health care sector doesn't get what i wanted workers. which is that where we're going to say i'm going to get we do the same thing but. what is it on some of the members of his own about dozen of the. labor unions are threatening further strikes if the government doesn't pa

let's get the latest now from our correspondent in yola, in the north—east of nigeria, mayenijones.ow unprecedented is this move? u nfortu nately not unfortunately not unprecedented. last two elections, in 2015 and before that in 2011, were also postponed, although the 2015 once came with some more warning. the once in 2011—— came with some more warning. the once in 2011 —— ones came with some more warning. the once in 2011—— ones in 2011, at least the national assembly elections, were postponed on the day as well. so this is unfortunately something nigerians are used to. following the 2015 elections, which we re following the 2015 elections, which were considered to be quite successful, things went fairly smoothly, people thought we had entered a new era of nigerian politics, where perhaps things would be more organised. this will be a disappointment to many people in nigeria who will wake up in the morning to this news, particularly those who have had to travel long distances to vote, because not everybody votes where they live. some people might register to vote in their home tow

here in the north—eastern town of yola voters are eager to cast their vote after last week's delay.so the queues are separated by genders, women on one side and men on the other. they all have their voter cards with them and will be presenting them to the electronic card readers that have been reconfigured. after that then they head to the polling booths to cast their votes and put them in one of these three boxes. even though this is the home state of the main opposition candidate atiku abubakar candidate it is still expected to be a pretty close race between himself and the incumbent president muhammadu buhari. this will be reflected in much else of the country. a man and woman in their 70s have died, after a car they were in was hit by a van, being pursued by police in south—east london. officers say a van was being "driven erratically at speed" in eltham and failed to stop — before colliding with a car just after midnight. the driver of the van has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. the incident has been referred to the independent office for polic

in a refugee camp in the northern city of yola those displaced by the insurgents are fed up with the government but many won't be able to vote for change. my voters card was burned when we were chased by vocal her around the entire village was torched we couldn't salvage anything and we had to flee for our lives if i had a card i would have voted the last elections held in twenty fifteen were postponed a full six weeks they resulted in good luck jonathan becoming the first incumbent president to be voted out of power. will hope that history does not repeat itself. first for a as an appalling station and nine jarius commercial capital lagos flourish has the week long delay had an impact on the election. yes it has people were expecting that since the ice the extended the election by a week that they were going to fix the law just to cause problems that they said was the reason it was wounded but they're still saying that they had lost not just the issues for example we are right here in this polling station by eight o'clock when they said they were going to start the election but they

jihadist group boko haram caused to haris popularity to slide in a refugee camp in the northern city of yola those displaced by the insurgents are fed up with the government but many won't be able to vote for change. or not my voters card was burned when we were chased by vocal her around the entire village was torched we couldn't salvage anything and we had to flee for our lives if i had a card i would have voted. the last elections held in twenty fifteen were postponed a full six weeks they resulted in good luck jonathan becoming the first incumbent president to be voted out of power. will hope that history does not repeat itself. clashes outside a polling station in nigeria's commercial capital lagos and joins me now loading is underway but there have been reports of violence tell us what you're hearing. right not from here and legacy everything still scarred but the reports are coming mainly from the northeast of the country in maiduguri the regional capital explosions were heard in the morning several explosions between five and six am in the morning we still cannot confirm if it wasn't

jihadist group boko haram caused biharis popularity to slide in a refugee camp in the northern city of yola those displaced by the insurgents are fed up with the government but many won't be able to vote for change. my voters card was burned when we were chased by a vocal around the entire village was torched we couldn't salvage anything and we had to flee for our lives if i had a card i would have voted the last elections held in twenty fifteen were postponed a full six weeks they resulted in good luck jonathan becoming the first incumbent president to be voted out of power. will hope that history does not repeat itself. to w.'s alley occasions outside a polling station in lagos and leon has the week long delay had an impact on the election. well it certainly might have an impact on the amount of people who are going to vote because remember the elections last time where just postponed five hours before the vote and many people were travelling to their home locations to cast the vote some might not do that this time around but the electoral commission argued that they needed to postpone th

the bbc s mayeni jones has more from yola in the north east of the country.el long distances to cast their vote macro. in president muhammadu buhari's hometown there was surprise. we have seen the president is in the town. we have seen many people coming from fireplaces. i couldn't believe it until i came out. people are just standing. others have about to show up standing. others have about to show up again next week. if we do not vote,... if we vote we will see a change. voting booths here are completely empty. no ballot papers and not people. life seems to be carrying on as normal. nigerians are used to delay collections. the last couple of pauls were also was born. the announcement of the delay came in the early hours of saturday when most people were in bed. following a careful review of the fermentation of the logistics and operational plan, and the determination to conduct free, fair and credible elections, the commission came to the conclusion that proceeding with the conclusion that proceeding with the election as scheduled is no longerfeasible. the

let's get the latest now from our correspondent in yola, in the north east of nigeria, mayenijones.have heard from the two main parties who are condemning this move? the ruling progressive congress was the first party to release a statement and they said they condemned the delay. they called for the supporters to be patient, urging them to turn up on the 23rd when the vote has been rescheduled but they also blamed the opposition, the people's democratic party, for the delay. they hope the commission was not colluding with them. the leader of the opposition shortly later released a statement expressing disappointment and the delay and the his supporters at two remain calm but blaming the ruling party that they eat feared rule —— losing the election. any further insight about why the decision was made by the commission? no, yakub mahmood said he would provide more details later on saturday. there had been a few fires in a few polling stations. as of yesterday, friday, we we re stations. as of yesterday, friday, we were still getting reports that many polling stations still had not rec

the bbc s mayeni jones has more from yola in the north east of the country.to travel long distances to cast their vote. in president muhammadu buhari's hometown, they were surprised. i was not expecting the election was going to be postponed, because we have seen the president is in the town when we have seen many people are coming from far places to come to their hometown and cast their vote, so why aren't they accepting it? i couldn't believe it until i come out, i knowjust come out, people are just standing. others have vowed to show up again next week. it's important to me to do the vote, because if you don't do the vote, you will not, you are still... but if you do the vote, we will see change. a few polling stations we visited here in the northeast of the country are completely empty, no valid papers, and no people. and life seems to be carrying on as normal, nigerians are used to delayed elections, the last two poles in 2011, and 2015, were also postponed. the announcement of the delay came in the early hours of saturday, when most people were in bed.

earlier, i spoke to our nigeria correspondent — mayenijones — who has been following the voting from yolat's unclear at the moment whether voting will continue. the electoral commission hasn't yet come down one way oi’ the electoral commission hasn't yet come down one way or another but we are expecting results to come in within the next 48 hours, roughly. at the moment the unofficial figures that have been coming through by various media platforms, local media platforms as well as civil society groups, the electoral commission hasn't made any formal results man. at the moment what they are doing is counting the votes them yesterday from around the country, only a small number of polling stations we re small number of polling stations were affected by delays and violence so they are waiting to see what the result looks likes before waiting to see if it's safe enough, whether it's safe enough for staff to go back in. what is at stake in this election? outline for this election is all about. nigeria is africa's most populous nation, hence the size of the elections. it's the largest economy

let's speak to our correspondent in yola, nigeria, mayenijones. was this expected at all? would have been announced before the day of the election. this has come as a surprise, a number of people have moved to the places where are they are registered to vote, their home towns, people in lagos were travelling in their thousands, this is going to be incredibly disruptive to people when they wake up in the morning and they find out that elections will not take place today. can you give us more information on the reasons that the total commission gave for this extraordinary move? rumours have been swelling but nothing concrete came through, and at the last that it was announced that the electoral commission was having this emergency meeting, when the announcements came the chairman of the electra commission did not give many details, he said there was logistical issues out of his control and they were unable to overcome them, and for that reason they had to postpone the elections. there we re to postpone the elections. there were issues in the weeks coming up to the elections,

our correspondent mayenijones is in yola. what do you expect to happen in the next 24—hour is? continue? the electoral commission hasn't yet come down one—way at the other but we expect results to come in within the next 48 hours roughly. at the moment the unofficial figures that have been coming through by various media platforms, local media platforms as well as civil society groups, the electoral commission has not made any formal results known. what they are doing is counting the results from yesterday around the country, only a small number of polling stations were affected by delays and violence that they are waiting to see what the results like before deciding whether it's safe enough for staff to go back in. what is at sta ke for staff to go back in. what is at stake in this election? outline for the selection is all about. nigeria is africa's most populous nation, it's also the largest economy and its been at the centre of the fight in the region against the islamist militant group book o'hara. it's dry to get some of its neighbours to help in defeating the group and t

allegations of corruption have delayed the process by a week. 0ur correspondent mayenijones is in yolale behind you since we spoke to you an hour ago. tell me a bit about the atmosphere there. there has been a lot of unrest. yes, there has been reports of bomb blasts in maiduguri which is about six hours from where iam which is about six hours from where i am now. the atmosphere is pretty calm now. people are eager to cast their votes. a few minutes ago some of the voters were getting a bit agitated because there was a slight delay in the polls opening, but now they have started voting and everything has gone back to normal. a lot at stake here in africa's most populous nation, an economy that has been doing quite poorly because of the fall in the global price of oil, insecurity, unemployment amongst young people, 50% of the electorate here is under the age of 35. lots to contend with for whoever wins these elections. really significant because these elections were delayed, they were meant to happen last week. what are we expecting from this election? yes, the delay actually led many p

and speak to oui’ correspondence, counted at the moment and speak to our correspondence, who is in yolaave been all kinds of problems building up to these elections, can you tell us what the situation is like there at the moment. yes, indeed, so elections we re moment. yes, indeed, so elections were initially supposed to take place on the 16th of february. they we re place on the 16th of february. they were delayed till yesterday for logistical problems and by and large, electoral commission seems like they have been able to overcome some of these problems that there we re some of these problems that there were reports of many polling stations across the country where when people showed up, there were no officials on the electoral commission there, so the boat started quite late and then they we re started quite late and then they were faced with more logistical problems. everyone here votes, they have voting card so they can be identified, it has their pitch and barometric details on, and these cards are red with card readers that a p pa re ntly cards are red with card readers that app

our correspondent mayenijones is in yola. and this is a big deal, isn't it, mayeni?se of where you are this morning? we are or neighbourhood where people are coming through to start registering to vote. it is very early days ——we are in. the pulse won't open for 45 minutes. people are here and waiting. —— the polls. we have had ad hoc workers go into their various polling units. the atmosphere is calm. people want to get on with it and have a chance to vote after the polls were postponed from last saturday to this saturday. thank you very much indeed. we will speak to you later as those doors open and the people behind you file into customers. thank you for that. the american musician r kelly has surrendered himself to police and been charged with a series of abuse and assault allegations. the singer, whose real name is robert sylvester kelly, denies all of the charges and is due to appear in court in chicago today. monika plaha reports. at one point he was the biggest name in r&b, but here r kelly is being is courted by security as he had himself into chicago police

our correspondent mayenijones is in yola. people have been waiting for this.nd you, mayeni. what does this mean in nigeria, the fa ct what does this mean in nigeria, the fact that these elections are actually happening? well, i think across the country there will be a loss of relief that the fact that the polls are happening, particularly after last week's delay. there was a loss of frustration at the time, people had travelled long distances to come and vote. it finally seems that they are able to choose their next president. as you say, security is one of the issues voters will be thinking about as they cast their votes, as well as the economy, which has not been doing too well. and wheels are worrying news from maiduguri, about six hours north drive from you of reports of explosions very early this morning, suspected boko haram militants, the islamist group that has been fighting government forces for the last ten years. a lot of things to compare and —— contended for whoever wins this election. voters will be registering and casting a vote in the next two

our correspondent myenijones is in yola.has been trouble even just before this vote started, hasn't there? indeed, the vote was postponed from every 16th to yesterday, every 23rd, and at the time, the electoral commission said that it was down to logistical issues. well, those logistical issues. well, those logistical issues seem to have continued even into yesterday. there are were reports that many voters should have had at polling stations, there were no electoral officials there and that when they showed up, the voting booths were not working, so many boats had to carry on into the night, meaning many people were not able to cast their vote. it has to be said that in the majority of the country, most people were able to cast their votes that there were few areas where voting was delayed. thank you very much. north korea's leader, kimjong—un, has left pyongyang to travel to vietnam to meet with president trump. mr kim is travelling by train to hanoi for the meeting next week. it is the second time the two leaders have met