Nigerias National Elections Off to a Rocky Start

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Special to the NNPA from the Global Information Network

Police in the capital city of Abuja say they uncovered more than one million fraudulent ballots being printed at a local press house, it was reported in the news website SaharaReporters.

Up for grabs are 360 seats in the lower house of parliament, the House of Representatives, and 109 seats in the Senate.

So far, the ruling People's Democratic Party has taken the majority in the Senate and House of Representatives, but lost out on key positions, including the speaker of the house.

The Action Congress of Nigeria, the main opposition group, took second in the election with several other rival groups making modest gains.

Responding to reports of violence, disputed ballots and other issues, the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, told a news conference in Abuja the country's aspiration to democracy wasn't happening as quickly as hoped.

"Twelve years ago, our dear country, Nigeria, returned to democratic rule and we began a journey that many expected by now would have produced a stable democratic system in which peaceful, free, fair and credible elections are routine and taken for granted," he said. "Unfortunately, this is still not the case and Nigerians are yet to reap the dividends of democracy.

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