2007年VOA标准英语-Delays, Accusations Mar Nigeria Vote Before Sat

Delays and accusations¹ of rigging are marring Nigeria's presidential and legislative² elections, even before polls open on Saturday.  VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Abuja.

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Many fear Nigeria elections will be chaotic

Election officials say the new ballots are only starting to arrive after being printed abroad, and that polls will open at 10:00 a.m. Nigeria time on Saturday, two hours later than initially⁷ scheduled.

Some observers say the ballots were produced in South Africa, and that by midday Friday they were still not in Nigeria. 

The government declared Friday a national holiday, but trucks and military planes were apparently⁸ on standby to take ballots to polling stations.

This week, the country's supreme⁹ court reinstated the controversial vice president as a candidate. He had been excluded because of accusations of corruption¹⁰, which he denies. 

He says he believes the elections will be marred¹¹ by fraud and that he is only running so he can contest them later in the courts.

His party said soldiers in the north intercepted¹² a truck full of completed ballots, but election officials have denied the charges.  They said the ballots were not yet in Nigeria at the alleged¹³ time of the incident.

In a crowded field of more than 20 presidential candidates, the two favorites are the ruling party's Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the opposition's main candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, the former military ruler. Both are Muslim northerners.

To avoid a runoff, a candidate must get the highest number of votes and also a quarter of votes in 24 of 36 states.

Outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo, a southern Christian¹⁴, has said he hopes the election will be better organized than last week's state polls, which were marred by delays, underage voting, a chaotic release of results, decisions for revotes in certain areas, and violence, including the theft of ballot⁴ boxes while the voting was ongoing¹⁵.  

Human rights campaigner and observer, Festus Okoye, says Nigerians should try to vote and also make sure their vote counts.

Observer Okoye urges Nigerians to vote despite problems

About 60 million people are registered to vote.  They will also select 360 house legislators and 109 senators.

The outgoing parliament voted against proposals to amend¹⁶ the constitution and allow President Obasanjo to seek a third term.

If the election comes off, it will mark the first handover of an elected president to another one since independence from Britain in 1960.