Vote counting started in Nigeria's tightly contested election on Saturday, with three frontrunners vying to govern Africa's most populous democracy after a ballot hit by delays and isolated violence.

Among the candidates in the race, three stand out: Bola Ahmed Tinubu, candidate of the ruling party (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition party (PDP), and Peter Obi, backed by the Labour Party.

Crowds gathered to watch counting in some polling centres, where officials were observed by party representatives. Tallies were counted by hand before they were sent on electronically.

"We have to stay and watch," said Chinoso Ekpei, 27, a contractor, waiting with a crowd of dozens for the tally at their polling station in Ikoyi, Lagos. "We have to focus, we don't know what they did last time."

PDP's candidate Abubakar claimed fraud when he was beaten by Buhari in the 2019 vote before the Supreme Court dismissed his lawsuit.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said vote counting started where the voting had ended but has not said when official results will be released.

Thugs disrupted polling at some voting stations, but the election was mostly peaceful in a country where attacks and ethnic tensions marred past votes.

But angry voters protested after INEC started late or problems with identification technology disrupted voting in several centres in Lagos, southern Port Harcourt and the northwest state of Kano.

But desperation was clear in another nearby centre.

But Nigeria's security challenges are vast.

Read more on FRANCE 24 English

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