Nine killed in elections to state assemblies

At least nine people, including a senior government official, were killed in violence related to the elections for Nigeria's 36 state legislatures at the weekend, police said on Tuesday. President Olusegun Obasanjo's ruling People's Democratic Party has won a majority in 18 of the 24 states declared so far, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). However, several local and international monitoring groups have reported that the poll, like a series of national and state elections held in April, was riddled with fraud. Police said four people were killed by a mob in the town of Toto in Nasarawa State in central Nigeria during Saturday's elections, including Memuna Katai, the state's commissioner (minister) for women's affairs. Four people also died in a series of clashes between the supporters of rival parties in the southern Delta State and a soldier was shot dead by a bow and arrow in Yandang Kareji village in Adamwa state in the northeast when he tried to prevent youths from voting several times, they added. The Transition Monitoring Group, a coalition of Nigerian civic organisations which deployed 10,000 monitors across the country during Saturday's vote, reported widespread cases of ballot box stuffing, multiple voting, falsification of results and voter intimidation. It said fraud and intimidation was particularly widespread in southeastern Nigeria, where the worst abuses were also reported in elections for members of the national parliament, state governors and the national president last month. A European Union observer group also reported widespread malpractices in the southeast. "The elections in in these states lacked credibility and the level of fraud effectively disenfranchised a considerable number of voters, " the EU monitors said, blaming a variety of parties and individuals for the irregularities. INEC spokesman Steve Osemeke dismissed criticisms levied by the EU monitors. "We appreciate constructive criticism which will help our performance," he said, "but with only 119 people (as monitors) the EU cannot speak authoritatively."