ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria's electoral commission began counting votes in hotly contested presidential elections Monday as the United States and Britain warned that the count may be subverted by "deliberate political interference."
For the first time in Nigeria's history, a presidential vote appears too close to call, analysts have said of Saturday's high-stakes election to govern Africa's richest and most populated nation. Front-runners are President Goodluck Jonathan and former military dictator Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
Counting stopped just before midnight Monday with Jonathan winning nine states and the tiny Federal Capital Territory to Buhari's nine states.
But Buhari won many more votes -- 8.5 million to Jonathan's 6.48 million.
Another 18 states -- including Lagos, which has the biggest number of voters of any state -- still have to send results to the counting center in Abuja, electoral commissioner Attahiru Jega announced. He said the count resumes at 10 a.m. today.
The count in the capital was being carried out in the presence of party representatives, national and international observers and media. The counting began two hours late, with no explanation given for the delay.
Protests broke out Monday in two southwestern states won by Buhari's party. In one of them, Osun, Channels TV showed video of the electoral official racing through the announcement and then dashing out of the hall, followed by other officials and media, with security personnel rushing to protect them.
A joint statement by the United States and Britain said both countries would be "very concerned" by any attempts to undermine the independence of the electoral commission and distort the will of the Nigerian people.
"So far, we have seen no evidence of systemic manipulation of the process. But there are disturbing indications that the collation process -- where the votes are finally counted -- maybe subject to deliberate political interference," said the statement, signed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his British counterpart, Philip Hammond.
Jonathan's party called the suggestions "absolute balderdash" and demanded evidence. Campaign spokesman Femi Fani-Kayode said they "completely reject the assertion or the notion that we are in any way interfering with INEC," the electoral commission.
Relatively smooth voting was reported in the nation of 170 million people despite technical glitches, deadly attacks by Boko Haram, and allegations of political violence and threats in some areas.
The National Human Rights Commission said 50 people were killed during the balloting, including a state legislator, a soldier and two electoral workers.
There was still concern that the announcement of a winner could trigger violence.
After Buhari lost to Jonathan in 2011, more than 1,000 people died and some 65,000 were forced from their homes in northern riots, according to the commission.
Police in Port Harcourt, a center of oil production in Nigeria's south, fired tear gas Monday morning to disperse thousands of women supporters of the opposition coalition who demanded the cancellation of the election in Rivers state.
The opposition is demanding new elections in the southern states of Rivers and Akwa Ibom, alleging irregularities that include missing and false results sheets and electoral officials being replaced by government officials loyal to Jonathan. The national election commission said it is investigating numerous complaints.
Just days before the elections, Nigeria's military, backed by armies from neighboring countries, announced major victories over home-grown Boko Haram Islamic extremists after months of defeats.
The United Nations secretary-general's special envoy to West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told the Security Council in a briefing Monday that Boko Haram was "unable to disrupt the electoral process." The legitimacy of Nigeria's next government is important for ensuring the support of the international community, he said.
African members of the council said discussions continue on a draft resolution that would endorse military action by a five-country African force against Boko Haram. Issues that remain include funding of the force.
Jonathan, 57, is a Christian from a minority-group tribe in the lush oil-producing south, and 72-year-old Buhari is a Muslim from the semi-arid north that is home to farmers, cattle herders and centuries-old caliphates.
Voters also are electing legislators for parliament, where the opposition currently has a slight edge over Jonathan's party in the House of Assembly. Voting for 13 constituencies was postponed until April because of shortages of ballot papers.
Information for this article was contributed by Cara Anna of The Associated Press.
A Section on 03/31/2015