A number of opposition members alleged harassment and interference in connection with the governor’s election in Delta state, and police said arrests were made after attempts to steal ballot boxes.
The election in Delta state, located in the main oil-producing Niger Delta region, came after a court invalidated the result of the 2007 vote following fraud allegations and ordered a re-run just months before a new ballot.
Nigeria has been hit by a series of attacks in recent weeks, including bomb blasts in the capital Abuja and the central city of Jos, and authorities were on high alert as voters went to the polls.
Unrest
The Niger Delta region has long been hit by unrest involving criminal gangs and militants claiming to be fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue. Election rigging has also frequently occurred there.
An election office was burnt this week in the Delta state town of Ughelli. Twin bomb blasts also hit a political rally in the neighbouring state of Bayelsa a week ago.
“We have deployed 22 600 regular policemen” in addition to bomb experts and more than 2,800 riot police, Delta state police spokesperson Charles Muka told AFP. “It is the largest contingent ever deployed for a state election.”
About 1.5 million people were eligible to vote, and electoral commission spokesperson Iorwuese Umenger reported high turnout in the state capital Asaba, but did not provide numbers.
Police spoke of attempts to steal ballot boxes, but provided few details.
“The election has been very calm. No violence recorded anywhere,” Muka said at around 17:00.
“We had one or two places where there were attempts to snatch ballot boxes. We foiled them and arrests were quickly made.”
Test case
Ballot boxes have been stolen in previous elections in the Niger Delta.
One electoral agent from the opposition Democratic People’s Party told reporters he was beaten, leaving him without his shoes and cellphone, while a legal adviser from the same party also alleged he was assaulted.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan visited the state this week to campaign for Emmanuel Uduaghan, a member of the ruling People’s Democratic Party who was governor until the recent court ruling deposed him.
The vote was a major test for the country’s recently installed electoral commission, which faces huge challenges in organising April’s polls in Africa’s most populous nation.
“We know it is a test case,” electoral commission head Attahiru Jega, a respected academic, said in a recent television interview.
Source: news24