UPDATE - Nigeria polls open to elect governors, state assemblies

UPDATES WITH VIOLENCE DURING VOTING

By Rafiu Ajakaye

LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) - Polling has opened in several parts of Nigeria -- two weeks after the presidential ballot -- to elect new governors in at least 29 of the country's 36 states and 991 state lawmakers.

Voters in the Nigerian capital Abuja would be electing six chairmen and 62 councilors for the area councils in the high-end city.

There is no governorship poll in seven states -- including Edo, Kogi, Ondo, Ekiti, Anambra, Osun and Bayelsa -- due to alterations in their political calendar as a result of court verdicts.

The polling officially began at 8.00 a.m. local time (0700GMT) amid scanty reports of burning of electoral materials in Akwa Ibom and Benue states. Violence has also been reported in central Nigeria’s Kwara State.

Observer groups had warned of likely violence in a couple of volatile states including the commercial capital Lagos, where the race is between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP).

The Independent National Electoral Commission said 1,082 candidates are vying for various positions.

Official results are not expected until late Sunday or Monday as counting may last over one day.

- Violence occurs amid elections

At least three people have been killed and four officials abducted as vote collation commenced in the second leg of Nigeria's general elections.

Polling has closed in most parts of the country amid complaints of a pocket of vote buying, ballot-snatching and thuggery blamed on rival political parties -- although the overall assessment is that the exercise was mostly peaceful.

Police confirmed an observer died in southeast Enugu state allegedly through "accidental discharge" of a bullet from a policeman.

One urchin was shot dead in Ogere area of southwest Ogun state after he attempted to snatch a ballot box while another political operative was killed in election-related violence in southeast Imo state.

Four electoral officials were kidnapped in the oil-rich Cross River state with their whereabouts still unknown, according to the electoral body.

In north-central Kogi state, six polling officials were abducted and later freed in an apparent bid by some politicians to tilt the balance in their favor.

But officials and observers said polling was peaceful and orderly in most parts of the country with a few hitches regarding the use of card readers in the early hours of the day.