1st LD: Nigeria general elections held amid tight security

Polling stations across Nigeria opened on Saturday amid tight security, as more than 56 million eligible voters went there to cast their ballots to elect a new president, Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission said.

Registration started at 8:00 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) and voting began at 1:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT).

Fourteen candidates will compete in the presidential election, but it's most likely to be a tight race between incumbent president Goodluck Jonathan, from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, and opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, who is a former military leader.

The two contested in the 2011 general elections. In this year's election, a neck-and-neck race is expected as both possess matchable popularity.

There were heavy presence of security operatives in most polling stations in Abuja, the Nigerian capital city.

Similar security measures were in place across Nigeria, especially in the northern part of the country, which has been jolted by security fears due to the turmoil caused by radical Boko Haram militants.

"I want to assure Nigerians of a violence-free general elections, which will commence with the presidential poll on Saturday," State Defense Minister Rtd. Col. Austin Akobundu said on Thursday.

Nigeria delayed the general election in February by six weeks to allow government troops to recapture all the communities seized by radical Boko Haram militants since last year.

The Islamist terrorist group has killed more than 10,000 people in northeast Nigeria since 2009.

The tight security nationwide not only aims to handle potential Boko Haram attacks, but also to control election-related violence, which had seen some 1,000 people killed in 2011. Endi