Members of Nigeria's main opposition party voted through the
night to choose a candidate to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan at next
year's elections, with a result expected later on Thursday.
Proceedings at the All Progressives Congress (APC)
presidential primary at a stadium in the financial capital Lagos had been due
to get under way mid-afternoon on Wednesday.
But it did not start until gone 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) and the
7,214 delegates only began to cast their ballots -- alphabetically by state --
from 3:00 am.
The primary is expected to be a two-horse race between
Nigeria's former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, who was
vice-president for eight years from 1999.
The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) formally endorsed
Jonathan at a separate meeting in the capital, Abuja late on Wednesday. He was
the only candidate.
Jonathan, in power since 2011, said he was honoured to have
been chosen to run for a second term, which he said would build on the work of
his first and make security "the utmost priority".
The head of state said the security situation in the
northeast, where Boko Haram militants have been waging an insurgency since
2009, was "improving a little".
He also expressed hope that next February's elections will
be held countrywide, after concern that violence would largely prevent voting
in the three worst-affected states.
Jonathan chose current vice-president Namadi Sambo as his
running mate.
The APC -- a coalition of four opposition parties -- is seen
as having its best chance of seizing power from the PDP since civilian rule
returned to Nigeria in 1999.
It has been campaigning against Jonathan's record on
tackling Boko Haram, the PDP's stewardship of the economy and also its
perceived inability to tackle corruption and impunity.
AP
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