Buhari 'very confident' of poll win as party claims victory

Nigeria's former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari today said he was "very confident" of victory as vote counting after a tense general election showed him pulling ahead of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) opposition party declared victory and celebrations began among party grandees in the capital, Abuja.
If confirmed, it would be the first democratic change of power in the history of Africa's most populous country and cap a remarkable return for the 72-year-old who headed a military regime in the 1980s.
With 34 out of 37 results in, the APC had won 19 states, while Jonathan's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was on 14, plus the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja.

"This is the first time the opposition has voted a government out of power in Nigeria's history," said APC spokesman Lai Mohammed.
Buhari was more than 2.75 million votes ahead of 57-year-old Jonathan, after winning Yobe and Adamawa, which have been among the hardest hit by the bloody, six-year Boko Haram insurgency.

The retired army general won the key prize of Lagos in the southwest but at one point his lead was cut to 500,000 votes after landslide victories for Jonathan in his southern Delta homeland.
The vote was the closest election contest ever in Africa's biggest economy which has a population of 173 million.

The opposition leader, making his fourth run at the presidency, has been buoyed by frustration over endemic corruption, criticism over Jonathan's handling of Boko Haram and a stronger opposition.
There was a brief protest by Jonathan's PDP before the count resumed today.
Former Niger Delta minister Godsday Orubebe accused elections chief Attahiru Jega of being "partial" and "selective".
Orubebe claimed Jega had refused to investigate PDP complaints about big wins by Buhari in northern states but had launched a probe into claims by the APC of irregularities in Rivers.
Jega said later: "I don't believe that the allegations are substantial enough to require the cancellation or rescheduling of the elections in Rivers state. We will take the results."

But Buhari -- who seized power in December 1983 until he was ousted in a coup in August 1985 -- was encouraged by tallies from two northern states, where he stretched his lead over Jonathan compared to four years ago.
In Kano, Buhari defeated Jonathan by nearly 1.7 million votes after besting the president by roughly one million in 2011.