3 parties claim early leads in Nigeria's presidential election

Each of the three frontrunners in Nigeria's presidential election claimed Monday they are on the path to victory as preliminary results trickled in two days after Africa's most populous nation went to the polls.

Only four of Nigeria's 36 states had officially announced results by midday Monday, with three of those going to ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu. The fourth was won by the main opposition party candidate Atiku Abubakar.

Also in the mix as a perceived frontrunner was Peter Obi with the Labour Party. A winner is not expected to be announced until at least Tuesday. After the previous presidential election in 2019, it took four days for officials to declare a victor.

A runoff election will be held if no candidate secures at least one-quarter of the votes from two-thirds of Nigeria's 36 states and the capital city, in addition to receiving the highest number of votes.

On Monday, the African Union observer mission said voting had been delayed in more than 80% of polling units mainly because of logistical challenges caused by Nigeria's currency swap program.

The redesign of the Nigerian bank note, the naira, caused cash shortages nationwide and voters and poll workers had difficulties getting to polling stations Saturday.

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