Bomb blasts mar start of Nigeria's presidential elections

A second explosion has rocked Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday as voting gets underway in presidential polls. Late Friday a bomb exploded near a vote collating centre in the same city, but there were no reports of any casualities. Maiduguri was hit by two explosions during parliamentary elections a week ago. 

Reuters/Joseph Penney

Repeated shootings and other attacks blamed on an Islamist sect have occurred in the city in recent months, though police have said some of the past incidents may have been politically linked.

Meanwhile, polling stations have opened in the country's landmark presidential elections as Africa's most populous nation bids to hold its cleanest polls for head of state in nearly two decades. Large queues were said to have formed in some areas before some stations had opened.

Incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan is favoured to win. His main challenger is ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who benefits from significant support in the country's north and has developed a reputation as an anti-graft figure, though his regime in the 1980s was also accused of outrageous rights abuses.

More than 73 million people have registered to vote in the vast West African nation and the organisation of the poll is being closely watched.

A first attempt at holding parliamentary polls on April 2 had to be called off when material and personnel failed to arrive in a large number of areas. When the parliamentary poll finally did go forward on April 9, officials and observers described them as a significant step forward for the country,