Nigeria elections: Kufuor in closed-door meeting with Jonathan

Ghana’s former President John Agyekum Kufuor has met incumbent Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan as Africa’s most populous nation’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) collates ballots in the just-ended general elections.

Mr Kufuor, who is leading the ECOWAS Observers mission in Nigeria on Sunday declared the elections as “peaceful and transparent.”

Other African leaders who were at the private meeting include former Liberian President, Amos Sawyer, who is leading the African Union Election Observer Mission; former Malawian President and Head of Commonwealth Election Observer Mission, Bakili Muluzi; and the AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Ambassador Aisha Laraba Abdullahi.

The meeting which started inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja at about 3.30pm was also attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo and a few presidential aides.

President Goodluck Jonathan also met some foreign observers who monitored Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in a closed-door meeting. INEC is expected to announce the final results by Tuesday.

Meanwhile the BBC reports that early results show little separating the incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, and ex-military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

With eight states and the capital Abuja declared, President Jonathan's People's Democratic Party (PDP) has a lead of about 20,000 votes.

The US and UK in a joint statement expressed concern over possible "political interference" in the count.

"So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process," said the statement from UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

"But there are disturbing indications that the collation process, where the votes are finally counted, may be subject to deliberate political interference."

Nigeria's election commission (Inec) dismissed these fears, with a spokesman telling the AFP agency "there is absolutely no basis" to talk of meddling.