Nigerian election warning

Nigerian election warning

Buhari is seeking victory on Saturday

President Olusegun Obasanjo's main rival in presidential elections this Saturday has warned of mass protests if the poll is not free and fair.

Muhammadu Buhari's party has, along with Nigeria's other opposition parties, rejected the results of parliamentary elections held last Saturday, saying they were marred by abuses on a scale unprecedented in the country's history.

With more than three-quarters of the votes now announced, Mr Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party has secured a majority in both houses of the Nigerian parliament.

The polls are considered an important test for Nigerian democracy, and are the first since President Obasanjo's election in 1999 ended 15 years of military rule.

RESULTS SO FAR

House of Representatives
PDP 181, ANPP 82, AD 30, Others 6

Senate
PDP 60, ANPP 26, AD 5

"We are not going to boycott the elections on Saturday we are going to tell Nigerians to turn out and vote and defend their vote", Mr Buhari told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

But, Mr Buhari told the BBC that they will challenge in the courts the results from some areas of the country.

"I will not accept defeat, I will not accept defeat (in legistlative) elections. I want a re-run where ever results have been changed", he added.

He also said that his party was now talking to other parties seeking a broader alliance ahead of the presidential vote this weekend.

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President Obasanjo's campaign spokesman Akin Osuntokun had earlier admitted that the election process could be undermined by the opposition's rejection of the results.

A meeting of opposition parties in the capital, Abuja, on Tuesday called for the polls to be re-run.

Results

A spokesman for Environmental Rights Action, which sent is own monitors to polling stations, told the BBC that there was massive rigging of the poll in the southern Rivers and Bayelsa states, with electoral officials conniving with ruling party representatives to horde voting materials and declare spurious results in many areas.

Voting was also marred by violence in the south and east, though observers said the weekend's legislative election was more peaceful than expected.

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Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) is now asking the opposition to come up with evidence to back up their claims.

By Thursday at 0800GMT, 299 of the 360 House of Representatives seats had been declared, with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winning 181 of them - a clear majority.

Its nearest rival, the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) of the former military head of state Muhammadu Buhari, has 82 seats while the Alliance of Democracy (AD) has 30.

In the 109 member Senate, the PDP has won 60 of the 91 seats declared so far. The ANPP have 26 and the AD five seats.

President Obasanjo is now strong favourite to fend off all challengers to his position in the presidential poll on Saturday.

His main opponent will be Mr Buhari. But he will also face 18 other candidates.