Some irregularities but polls a success

Despite some “serious irregularities”, Nigeria’s legislatve elections should be judged “a qualified success”, the European Union said in a statement reaching IRIN today. The EU, which sent some 100 observers to the polls, said the most serious problems occurred in Bayelsa and Port Harcourt, in the south of the country. In these locations, the EU said, there were “many instances” where accreditation failed to take place and where ballot boxes were stuffed. The EU observers visited 750 of the 110,000 polling stations. The EU said observer groups from Canada, Japan and Norway agreed with the assessment of the polls. AFP reported that there were no international observers in the southeastern oil town of Warri for fear of kidnapping.