Nigerian President Jonathan wins primaries

Nigerian President Jonathan wins primaries

2011-01-15 15:59:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

ABUJA, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) -- Nigeria's current President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday won the primaries and thus became the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, local media reported.

Jonathan won surprisingly and against all odds in 32 states and the Federal Capital Territory. He got 2,736 votes in total while his closer competitor received only 805 votes.

His opponents, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Sarah Jibril acknowledged the incumbent president's victory. In return, Jonathan said he expected them to join his campaign team.

Many expected that Atiku would pose a bigger threat to Jonathan but he was defeated in all the states which votes have been counted. Jibril, the only female contestant, only got one vote from a delegate from Kwara State.

The voting was made by PDP delegates in all states on Thursday. Surprisingly, Atiku only won in four states and lost even in Adamawa, Atiku's home state. The voting process was reported as peaceful and without incidents.

However, accusations and allegations of bribery among the delegates were part of the low points of the national convention of the ruling party held to pick a presidential candidate of the faction.

Then allegations accused both Jonathan and Atiku of attempting to offer monetary incentives to PDP delegates in order to secure votes. There was no official confirmation of such allegations.

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