(Newser)
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Goodluck Jonathan of the ruling People's Democratic Party appears to have won a decisive victory in Nigeria's most peaceful elections ever, with 20.3 million votes. The tally is nearly double that of his closest rival, according to an early report by the BBC. Jonathan, who has been Nigeria's interm president since Umaru Yar'Adua died last year, had staked his reputation on a clean election, after Nigeria's 2007 election was called one of the most corrupt in Africa. "Nigeria is now experiencing true democracy where we the politicians have to go to the people," said Jonathan, calling the vote a "new dawn in Nigeria's political evolution."
Despite the apparent lack of incidents, the vote still had some irregularities, with Jonathan getting an astonishing 95% of the vote in some states, especially in the south around his hometown, with more than 99% in his home state Bayelsa. "Figures of 95% and above for one party suggest that these are fabricated figures, and they worry me because they pose serious questions on the credibility of the election," said one election monitor. With 74 million registered voters, Nigeria is the biggest democracy in Africa, and the fourth-largest producer of oil.
