Nigerian Elections Over, Results in Dispute
Umaru Yar'Adua has been declared the winner of Nigeria's presidential poll, a poll that is being rejected by the opposition and labeled a "charade" by outsiders. Yar'Adua was Nigeria's ruling party candidate, but opposition and observers have labeled the election a fraud due to violence influence the decision, and rigging of the polls, according to a Reuters article published in the Washington Post. Yar'Adua received over 24 million votes, 18 million more than his closest rival, Muhammadu Bahari. The vote should result in the first time that power in Nigeria has been handed over from one civilian to another. European Union observers noticedm any flaws and criticised the result. However, attempts to change the result could result in instability for the country as its current leader is required to hand over power by the end of May. Over 60 people have been killed so far in election related violence.
The article's lead gets across that Yar'Adua won the election, and also mentions in the same sentence that the results are being dismissed and rejected. The article then goes into explaining the significance of the election and the opinions of specific groups such as opposition and observers. There are no direct quotes immediately from election winners, only partial quoted of phrases in quotation marks. The first full, direct quotation comes from a European Union observer in the second section of the article ,which focuses on the accusations and evidence of fraud in the election. The current leader of the country is given an optimistic quote near the end when the piece turns to a more speculative tone about the future of the country, and there's statistics about election violence and government action, with the government labelling those who oppose the election results as coup-supporters.
An Associated Press article run in the New York Times about the issue focuses on telling more about Yar'Adua early on, but also mentions the opposition to the election results in the lead. His opposition's qualms about the results are given earlier on, and the article actually describs the scene of the elections on Saturday which is effective and gives a clearer idea of what exactly the corruption that went on might have been. Many of the same figures and positions are established, while generally giving more on Yar-Adua's life and accomplishments.
I prefer the Associated Press article because it gives more information on the issue. The both have similar structures and patterns of expositions, it's just the the Associated Press article has more information on the candidate elect, as well as the political climate in Nigeria and how the election will affect the country. For someone wanting to casually learn about the issue ashorter article might suffice.