African press review 13 April 2015

The Nigerian press is in a race against time as gubernatorial election results spring surprises in key states, with the president-elect's party poised for a massive win. And a terrorism scare at another Kenyan university sends the press wondering if a climate of fear has gripped the nation.

The Nigerian papers are all dripping with election news as the returns of Sunday's high-risk gubernatorial battles trickle in.

Vanguard says it is able to report that with ferocious intensity, the All Progressives Congress (APC) of president-elect Muhammadu Buhari swept into its kitty most of the 29 governorship seats contested at the weekend. These include the strategic Lagos state. According to the paper, the huge victory has catapulted the party to the enviable position of the dominant party in Nigeria.

Punch says its own tally for now stands at 13 states for the APC against four for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The newspaper says there is drama in Abia state after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reversed its earlier decision to cancel the results in three key local government areas claimed by the PDP.

There was a repeat of history after INEC declared the election in Imo state inconclusive, according to Premium Times.

The Nation publishes the portraits of the winners and losers and graphic images of victims of election violence amid reports by The Sun that at least two people have been killed in Lagos during clashes between PDP and APC supporters. The national elections body INEC is probing 66 incidents reported 19 states, according to The Nation.

The Guardian reports that one such inquiry is taking place in Kano state where 14 people have been detained in connection with destruction of electoral materials.

Hurricane Buhari has made landfall, crows the influential Vanguard publication. For the paper, egos were bruised when long-standing patrons who were used to dictating the pace and pattern of policies and politics were buried after the governorship elections last weekend.

A Hurricane is a huge storm that normally clears almost every physical impediment in its way. It's been two weeks since it started gathering force, writes the Vanguard, adding that it has now comprehensively removed the hands of the PDP from the gears of governance at the presidency and parliament.

And in Kenya, Daily Nation tries to get to the bottom of a dawn stampede at th University of Nairobi which left one student dead and 141 others injured. According to the paper “gunshot-like” explosions caused by an electric fault sparked panic at the Kikuyu campus Sunday, forcing some students to jump from the sixth floor of their hostels in an attempt to flee from supposed terrorists. Daily Nation says the incident has sent ex-Kenyan premier Raila Odinga warning about a climate of fear that has taken hold of the country and needs to be dealt with.