Nigeria had its first democratic transfer of power in history Tuesday in presidential elections that declared opposition contender Muhammadu Buhari the victor, Reuters reported.
Buhari's party, All Progressives Congress, won the votes in a close race between the former military leader and President Goodluck Jonathan.
Wih only one state left to count, Buhari took the clear lead with 15.1 million votes over Jonathan's 11.7 million, according to the Reuters tally.
"The people of Nigeria have taken over," APC spokesman Lai Mohammed told Reuters. "This is the first time in Nigeria that a sitting government will be voted out of power using purely democratic means."
The announcement comes after the US and UK expressed concern over political interference in the elections, though the UK foreign minister said there was no sign of manipulation at the time.
Residents came to the polls despite bloodshed from attacks by Boko Haram that targeted voters. Mohammed told Reuters he expects Jonathan to concede, as the two candidates had signed a peace accord earlier this week to ease citizens' fears of violence.
