Subsidised rice for Nigerian voters

A group campaigning for the military leader of Nigeria, Sani Abacha, to be elected president says it is to sell thousands of tons of rice at subsidised prices.

It will be sold in bags bearing General Abacha's name ahead of elections in August.

The same group has already distributed free T-shirts and exercise books.

The organisation called Youth Earnestly Ask for Abacha says it has paid for the fifteen-thousand tonnes of rice.

But Nigerian opposition groups say the government is supporting the group, in an effort to ensure that General Abacha is elected.

He has not said whether he will stand.

In November a special Abacha television set was launched by a businessman who said he too was operating independently of the government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service