Residents across Nasarawa State yesterday flooded viewing centres to watch the historic inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as the first president from an opposition party in Nigeria since the return to democracy in 1999.

As early as 8am, members of the public who were in a jubilant mood gladly parted with N50 to secure comfortable places in various viewing centres which were hitherto used for watching football matches.

A student of the Benue State Polytechnic, Ugbokolo, Miss Caroline Okoh, who was in the company of her friends, said they were at the Coach Viewing Centre, Tudun Gwandara in Lafia, to witness what she termed ‘Nigeria’s transition to a new dawn’.

She however regretted that Nigerians could not watch the ceremony from the comfort of their homes because of power failure, but expressed optimism that this may well be the last time Nigerians would witness such a sorry situation.

Mr Sam Danzaria of Sabon Pegi in Lafia said he was at the viewing centre with his wife and children to watch the inauguration since they could not watch it at home due to lack of power.

When LEADERSHIP Weekend visited the UAC area of the capital city, beer parlours and other recreational centres were flooded with people in a celebratory mood, waiting for the inauguration to commence.