Ruling party takes lead in legislative polls

Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) took an early lead on Monday in legislative elections marred in some parts of the country by delayed voting and in others by violence. With results from Saturday's vote still trickling in, President Olusegun Obasanjo's PDP had won 69 of 124 seats in the House of Representatives and 23 of 35 Senate seats so far declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The main opposition All Nigeria People's Party won 34 seats in the lower chamber of the legislature and five in the upper chamber, followed by the Alliance for Democracy, with 18 representatives and five senators. Apart from the All Progressive Grand Alliance which has won one senate seat, the rest of the 30 political parties competing in the elections were yet to win parliamentary seats. There are 369 seats in the house representatives and 109 in the senate. Voting on Saturday was marked by a large and enthusiastic turnout across the country of 120 million inhabitants. But in some areas voting was delayed by the late arrival of electoral materials. In parts of the Niger Delta oil region, voting was disrupted by ethnic Ijaw militants who said their demands that government review what they perceived as a "lopsided" distribution of electoral wards had not been met. Armed Ijaw militants who attempted to disrupt voting on Sunday near the southern oil town of Warri clashed with troops, resulting in the death of at least 10 people, witnesses said. In southeastern Enugu State, four people, including two policemen, died when supporters of the ruling PDP clashed with opposition ANPP rivals. In other isolated incidents, thugs were reported to have snatched ballot boxes in the southeastern states of Anambra and River. INEC chairman Abel Guobadia said the elections would be cancelled in places where ballot boxes and other election materials were tampered with by unauthorised persons. INEC has rescheduled the vote to Wednesday in parts of Anambra State, where elections were not held because electoral officials did not turn up on Saturday. The 12 April vote was the first in a series of polls that includes presidential and governorship elections on 19 April. The polls are the first general elections in Nigeria since the end of more than 15 years of military rule in 1999.