ABUJA. Mar 2: A retired general who 20 years ago stepped down as the head of a military junta was declared the winner of Nigeria's presidential elections amid widespread allegations of fraud, reports AP.

The election won by former Gen Olusegun Obasanjo had been billed as the final step in a return to democracy for Africa’s most populous country.

But election monitors from the United States said Monday they found flaws in the electoral process, including inflated vote returns, ballot box stuffing and altered results.

"What happened on Saturday was a farce, a charade." former Finance Minister Olu Falae. Obasanjo's defeated opponent, declared Monday. The degree of fraud was so monumental as to make nonsense of the entire process."

Formei President Jimmy Carter, who led a delegation of observers, told Nigerian election officials that fraud was so widespread it was impossible to judge whether the results were accurate in the first election in 15 years.

Local observers were even harsher in their assessment. Nigeria's Transition Monitoring Group said parties backing both candidates were guilty of cheating and that electoral officers "colluded across the country" to falsify results.

Nigeria has never held a presidential election in which the loser accepted defeat. In both previous presidential elections. in 1979 and 1993. the apparent result was contested by at least one of the candidates.

Obasanjo admitted to irregularities. but said they were committed by "ignorant" people.