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Nigeria election 2023: Voting day as it happened
Updates from BBC correspondents on the ground: Nduka Orjinmo & Peter Okwoche in Abuja, Mayeni Jones, Andrew Gift, Simi Jolaoso & Azeezat Olaoluwa in Lagos, Yemisi Adegoke in Adamawa, Chris Ewokor in Anambra, Adedayo Okedare in Oyo, Onyinye Chime in Kaduna, Mansur Abubakar in Kano, Karina Igonikon in Rivers
Live Reporting
Cecilia Macaulay and Lucy Fleming
All times stated are UK
First-time voter: 'Nigerians expect any eventuality'
Gift Ufoma
BBC Pidgin, Lagos
A first time voter in the Ogba area of Lagos told the BBC as she waited for election officials to set up voting that she has come prepared.
"As a Nigerian you expect any eventuality, so I came out with my power bank and a bottle of water. I will wait till they arrive so I can vote," Edith said.
This vote is tightly contested between the top three frontrunners.
What do voters in oil-rich Port Harcourt want?
Karina Igonikon
BBC Pidgin, Port Harcourt
Voters in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt have told the BBC that they want to see a change in their country.
Benibo, a first time voter (pictured below), is determined to cast his vote to make a positive change as he says “the suffering is too much”.
Francis Nwogu (below), who has voted in the past, is concerned his ballot may not count. He wants government and the election commission to respect the choice of the people.
Victoria Briggs (below) wants the new government to make the price of food cheap and affordable, to take care of pensioners and provide job opportunities for the young.
A rare sight in Lagos: no traffic
The BBC's Nkechi Ogbonna in Lagos has tweeted a photo of a rare sight in the usually traffic-logged city:
Atiku Abubakar hopes for peaceful vote
Yemisi Adegoke
BBC News, Yola, Adamawa state
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar addressed the press briefly after casting his ballot at his polling unit in Yola North, in north-eastern Adamawa state.
The 76-year-old presidential candidate for the PDP party was shuttled to the front of the queue, where he was quickly verified allowing him to vote.
Afterwards he was mobbed by the press: grown men and women kicking, shoving and elbowing each other for a shot.
He said he was feeling positive and hoped the elections would continue to proceed peacefully.
No polling officers at Tinubu's polling station
The BBC's Azeezat Olaoluwa in Lagos has tweeted from the scene of a polling station in Lagos where APC candidate Bola Tinubu, one of the frontrunners to be president, is expected to vote:
Nigeria decides: 'An election of young people'
The head of Nigeria's voting body, Inec, has said that this vote will be an "election of young people".
Those aged 18-35 are the largest adult age group, standing at around 59 million people. Moreover, almost 40% of registered voters are under 34.
Universities around the country have also been closed, partly because of security concerns, but also to give young people the chance to vote.
Lagos voter waits for polling station to be set up
Simi Jolaoso
BBC News, Lagos
One of the voters registered to a polling unit in Lagos - Kafi/Awolowo Road Junction - has found that it has not been set up yet.
Juliet, 42, says she is confused about what is going on but will not let it dissuade her.
“I’m excited to vote. History is going to happen today, I’m excited to be a part of it.
"It’s sadly 09:16, there’s just the press here set up, I won’t let it deter me.
"It’s discouraging but I wish for once we can stop the Nigerian factor and just stick to time.”
Atiku Abubakar arrives at polling centre to vote
Yemisi Adegoke
BBC News, Yola, Adamawa state
PDP candidate and one of the presidential frontrunners, Atiku Abubakar, has arrived at his polling unit to cast his ballot in Yola, in north-eastern Adamawa state:
Voting commences at Peter Obi's polling centre
Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Agulu, Anambra state
Voting has commenced in polling unit 019, Ward 2 in Amatutu, Agulu town in Nigeria’s south-eastern Anambra state.
An 81-year-old, Peter Nedum, is the first person to cast his ballot here.
This is the polling centre where the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, is voting.
The sleepy town of Agulu woke up slowly on Saturday morning as residents started trickling to the polling centre to cast their ballots.
Despite security concerns in the south-east region, voters appear eager to exercise their civic obligation.
In the run-up to the general election there have been attacks blamed on armed gangs in parts of the region.
The separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob) is active in this region.
A factional leader of the group, Simon Ekpa, had called on residents in the region to stay away from voting today.
But security agencies have assured that they are on top of the situation and asked people to go about their lawful activities.
Checking out names in Adamawa as voting starts
Josh Akinyemi
BBC News, Yola, Adamawa state
Voters at the polling station in Yola, home to presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar in the capital of north-eastern Adamawa state, check out their names:
Press wait expectantly for Tinubu
Simi Jolaoso
BBC News, Lagos
There is a crowd of press personnel waiting expectantly to see Bola Tinubu, candidate for the APC party however, there is confusion about where he will actually be voting in Lagos.
His polling unit in Alausa lies empty, with no electoral officers present at 07.45 GMT (08.45 local time).
A few metres down the same road, opposite Ikeja City Mall, is another polling unit, where again there are no electoral officers, just journalists and camera-people set up, hoping to capture the presidential hopeful cast his vote.
Voting amid a backdrop of economic instability
Today's vote is taking place amid a backdrop of economic instability in Nigeria.
Overall, inflation in 2022 stood at just under 19%, the highest in two decades.
The Ukraine war has had an impact but prices had been going up before the fighting began - caused by the closure of the border to many imports and a scarcity of foreign exchange.
What's more the country's public debt has also been rising under outgoing President Buhari's watch.
Huge sums are spent on subsidising petrol and the oil-producing nation has not been able to take advantage of higher oil prices as it has little refining capacity and has to re-import petrol.
Analysts are getting increasingly concerned about the sustainability of the public debt with the cost of paying the interest on it exceeding government income at times in 2022.
Early bird voters excited in Kano
Mansur Abubakar
BBC Pidgin, Kano
Early bird voters at the Shagari Quarters in Kano have told the BBC that they are excited to cast their ballot in this historic election.
Ibrahim Uba, 72, came out as early as 05:00 GMT (06:00 local time) and says he didn’t sleep all night as he just wants to exercise his right.
"Voting is everything to me if we really care about our country then we should all vote."
First time voter, Salisu Atiku, 19, says he can't wait to cast his ballot. He was one of the first to arrive Tukuntawa polling station in Kano.
“We’ve been told stories of Nigeria’s glorious years by our elders and my hope is that the country returns to those years that is why i want to vote.”
However for others, even getting to the polling station will be struggle.
Rahama Sanusi, who begs on the streets of Kano, told the BBC she intends to vote but wants to beg for money from passers-by for a few hours before going home to get her voter’s card.
“I rely on alms to eat and I might lose out if I go to the polling station directly from home, my plan is to beg for a few hours before going out to vote.”
All set for the vote at Anambra polling station
Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Anambra state
All is now set for voting to start at this polling in Agulu in south-eastern Anambra state. Voters are trickling in:
Waiting for electoral officials in Abuja
Nduka Orjinmo
BBC News, Abuja
On a normal day residents would be driving through this huge gate in an estate on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital, Abuja, but today is not your usual Saturday, so it has be repositioned as a polling unit.
It will be the same across the country where schools, community halls, village squares, markets and streets will be temporarily refitted for crucial votes in Nigeria.
At this estate, two tents have been raised for electoral officials and voters, some have been here since 05:00 GMT (06:00 local time).
Many of the would-be voters are fresh faced, you can tell they are first-time voters who have just turned 18.
Online, people are sharing pictures and videos arriving before dawn at polling centres - hours before polls are due to open.
But with less than minutes before voting is supposed to commence here, there is no sign of the officials who will conduct the election.
Everyone else is here though, including observers and police officers.
Many are idling about on their phones, others are discussing the issues in the country - a woman mentioned the cost of plantain.
No-one knows how long we have to wait before the electoral officials arrive - so it might be a long day.
How many votes are people casting today?
A total of 87.2 million people have collected their voter cards and are eligible to vote today.
Aside from a vote for president, Nigerians will also be choosing 109 federal senators and 360 members of the house of representatives, with the vote for governors taking place in March.
For the presidential ballot, voters will have a choice of 18 candidates to choose from, but there are three top contenders who have dominated the campaign trail:
There is only one female presidential candidate, out of the 18, to choose from.
Anambra voters in south-east hope for change
Chris Ewokor
BBC News, Awka, Anambra state
Anambra is the home base of Peter Obi, the candidate of Labour Party and one of the three frontrunners with realistic chances of winning the presidential race.
At 61, Mr Obi is the youngest of the three - both Bola Tinubu of the governing All Progressives Party and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party are in their seventies.
Obi, a wealthy businessman-turned-politician, hails from Agulu, a large town which hosts a popular tourist site, the Agulu Lake. He is expected to cast his vote here. He is a former governor of the state.
Many of his followers say he is the only candidate with a message offering real change. He has emerged as an unexpected powerful force in the presidential race and hopes to break the dominance of the traditional two-party system that Nigeria has run since it returned to democracy in 1999.
For most of the 2.5 million voters here, the biggest issue is insecurity. In recent days, five facilities belonging to the Anambra state police command have been attacked. Eight policemen have also been killed in the attacks carried out by unknown gunmen.
The south-east region is the base of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob). Its leader Nnamdi Kanu is currently held by the government on charges of treason. He had been accused of instigating violence in the region.
Adamawa calm amid tight security
Yemisi Adegoke
BBC News, Yola, Adamawa state
The mood in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state and hometown of Atiku Abubakar, one of the three presidential frontrunners, is one of calm anticipation.
Other than the increased presence of security operatives, it seems very much like business as usual. The day before the vote supermarkets were open, cars on the road, and like much of the country, people were still in queues trying to get naira, petrol or both.
Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of support for the former vice president, who is running for Nigeria's top job for the sixth time.
"I'm confident that Atiku Abubakar will win," says Jemima Jimoso, a student who travelled back to Yola to vote.
But there is still a sense that the outcome this time round is harder to predict.
"Some people thought [these elections] would be about regional politics," says Mohammed Babaji, who also plans to vote today.
"I believe this time Nigerians are going to vote for a national leader."
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), close to 90% of people in Adamawa state have collected their voters card.
Whether this number translates to votes for the state's most famous son remains to be seen.
Nervous anticipation in Lagos
Mayeni Jones
BBC News, Lagos
There is nervous anticipation on the streets of Nigeria’s business hub of Lagos.
The city’s infamous traffic has evaporated and people have headed to their states of origin to vote.
In a supermarket in the upscale neighbourhood of Ikoyi, just five minutes down the road from the massive residence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Candidate, hundreds of people were panic-buying on Friday.
Long queues snaked round the tills as shoppers struggled to pay because of the glitchy banking system.
In a corner, a vendor with a card machine was selling cash at a 100% mark-up. There has been a shortage of cash following a last minute currency redesign by the Central Bank.
“This is total chaos,” sighed one woman as she waited for a supermarket worker to confirm her payment had been successful.
Lagos has the largest number of eligible voters of any state, more than six million.
Traditionally turnout here has been low, only 18% of eligible voters showed up in the last general election.
But a sizable portion of the city’s youth support third party candidate Peter Obi, of the lesser known Labour Party.
His presence on the ballot, as well as the city’s residents' exasperation with rising inflation and unemployment, could lead to a record turnout in today’s polls.
Good morning
Welcome to our special coverage of Nigeria's general election as millions vote for a new president and members of the national assembly.
The race to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, who has served the maximum two terms as president, is the most open since the military left power in 1999.
Poll are due to open in half an hour at 08:30 local time.