Fraud allegations follow Nigerian state elections

Results from Nigeria's state elections showed the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) racing to a landslide victory, but the opposition denounced widespread vote rigging and said the poll was a sham. Opposition supporters burned buildings, blocked roads and barricaded election offices in Nigeria on Apr. 15 as early results from flawed state elections showed a big victory for the PDP. Nigerian newspapers estimated about 50 people were killed in violence linked to rigging in the Apr. 14 vote for 36 state governors. The unrest marred elections in Africa's most populous nation just days before a presidential election meant to usher in the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in a nation whose history since independence in 1960 has been plagued by military coups. "We reject the entire election as a sham," said Lai Mohammed, spokesperson for the opposition Action Congress (AC) party based in oil-rich southwestern Nigeria. Dozens of mostly opposition candidates were disqualified just before the vote because of controversial fraud indictments, and election materials failed to arrive in many voting areas. Members of local and international observer missions said elections in between four and six states were so compromised they should be rerun. "In several key states, the election has no credibility," said Chris Albin-Lackey of Human Rights Watch. "If the presidential elections next weekend show the same pattern, it will be impossible to talk about progress to democracy and the rule of law, eight years after the end of military rule." Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had canceled results from two states, Imo and Enugu, and elections would be rerun within weeks, but announced that the ruling PDP won 26 of 32 states for which results have been counted. The state-run news agency said that in the northern Kaduna and Katsina states, the announcement of results was greeted by violence, with teenagers burning electoral and local government offices. Police in the northern opposition stronghold of Kano imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew before the results were even announced. Unrelenting protests nationwide over results of state elections, have led Nigerian authorities related to the ruling PDP party to declare 23 AC leaders, including the parties gubernatorial candidate, wanted in Osun State. Police said they are wanted in connection with a violent demonstration that rocked Osun in the wake of the declaration of incumbent Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola as winner of the gubernatorial election there. No fewer than 16 houses were torched in the Osun city of Ilesha while scores of others were also burnt in the state capital Osogbo and other communities in the state. Meanwhile, arson, maiming and other forms of protest continued in some states, including Edo, Anambra, Ekiti, and Lagos. In the southern oil-producing Delta State, where the PDP was announced the winner, youths armed with cutlasses and guns burned houses and blocked roads in the city of Warri. Community leaders said there was no voting across much of Warri, where the campaign stoked ethnic discord. Large crowds of women in Warri took to the street protesting their disenfranchisement in the election, leading to the grounding of economic activities for some hours. The women, who carried placards with different inscriptions denouncing the election, said that they waited all day at their supposed polling booths but could not vote because materials were hijacked by government agents. One protester, who identified herself as Etuwewe Kemute, said she was disappointed in the INEC and the federal government for announcing results in places where elections were not conducted. She called on INEC and all those concerned to cancel all the results announced in Warri and all of the central Delta senatorial district, because no elections were held there. In nearby Edo State, nearly all the major streets have been deserted by motorists while over 2,000 women who were half naked took over the entire city in a protest that was the first of its kind in the state. The mass action caught men of the Edo State police unawares as they had relaxed security in anticipation that peace would return to the city in view of the ban on public processions announced by national police authorities. The unrest has lead police to announce a ban on political rallies across this nation of 140 million, and security forces have been given orders to act to put down violence. By Apr. 18, the main opposition parties joined forces to demand the annulment of the results of the balloting for state governors and legislators they branded "sham elections" and called for a postponement of the presidential vote. Since independence from Britain in 1960, most Nigerian elections were scuttled by military coups or annulments. Current President Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military ruler, was elected in 1999, ending decades of near-constant military rule and coups d'etat that overturned periodic civilian administrations. Obasanjo's 2003 re-election was marred by violence and accusations of widespread rigging. Obasanjo was prevented from running again by constitutional term limits. Umaru Yar'Adua, a member of Obasanjo's party, is seen as the frontrunner in the upcoming presidential election.