Nigerians turn out in force for presidential vote

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ABUJA, Apr 16 (Reuters): Nigerians massed at polling stations Saturday for what they hope will be their first credible presidential election for decades and could set an example across Africa. Queues formed early across the country, including the village of tin-roofed shacks in the southern Niger Delta where President Goodluck Jonathan will vote and the dusty alleyway in the northern village of Daura where his main rival, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, will cast his ballot. Two bombs panicked voters in the troubled northeastern city of Maiduguri, but there appeared to have been an orderly start to election day across most of the country of 150 million. The polls pit Jonathan, the first head of state from the oil-producing Niger Delta, against Buhari, a northern Muslim with a reputation as a disciplinarian. Other candidates include former anti-corruption chief Nuhu Ribadu and Kano state governor Ibrahim Shekarau, though they are seen as rank outsiders. "We have come out early because this is the time for the north. We know Buhari can change the lives of our people, change the standard of living," said Salisu Yahaya, 35, a civil servant waiting in line in Daura. The African giant, home to more people than Russia, has failed to hold a free and fair presidential election since military rule ended in 1999, leaving many of its citizens with little faith in the benefits of democracy. Meanwhile: An explosion hit a police station in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri just as presidential elections were beginning Saturday, the second blast in the past 24 hours, residents said. The blast happened at a police station in the Lami Sula district of Maiduguri, which lies in the remote state of Borno near Nigeria's borders with Chad, Cameroon and Niger.