A spokesman of the Independent National Electoral Commission tells The Associated Press the explosion happened Friday afternoon in Suleja, a city in Niger state near the country's capital of Abuja. Spokesman Kayode Idowu said he did not know if there were any injuries from the blast.
Idowu says the commission suspects the explosion came from a bomb attack. In March, attackers threw a bomb at a political rally in the city, killing at least four people and wounding 20 others.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
IBADAN, Nigeria (AP) - Gang members hired by politicians beat an election official and steal ballot papers. Bus loads of thugs harass opposition parties. A bomb detonates without an apparent target.
Nigeria's delayed first national election starts Saturday, but already troubles reminiscent of a fatally flawed 2007 vote can be seen across Africa's most populous nation. Coupled with a failed bombing in the north and an attack by a radical Islamic sect Friday, these signs undoubtedly prove worrying for international observers concerned about one of the top crude oil suppliers to the U.S., as well as those who will place their inked fingers to the ballots.
"Millions of voters may be disenfranchised by being too scared to go out to cast their votes," recently wrote Kunle Amuwo, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. "Politicians who orchestrate violence must be held accountable and prosecuted. Unless violence is swiftly curtailed and contained, there will be no basis for credible elections."
Nigeria, home to 150 million people, will vote Saturday on who should represent its citizens in its National Assembly. The positions remain highly lucrative, with more than $1 million in salaries and benefits, plus the ability to direct a swollen budget in a nation where billions in oil revenues routinely go missing.
The election was to be held last Saturday, but national election chairman Attahiru Jega stopped it after ballot papers and tally sheets went missing in many of the country's roughly 120,000 polling stations. Jega twice postponed the election and about 15 percent of the races won't be held Saturday as misprinted ballots delayed them.
Nigeria's crucial presidential election, as well as local elections, will take place later this month.
Many hoped Jega, a respected academic, would be able to lead Nigeria out of its dark history of flawed polls marred by violence and ballot-box stuffing since became it a democracy in 1999. However, even he appears now to be overwhelmed by the logistical challenge of conducting elections in a nation twice the size of California that lacks reliable roads and railways.
"One man alone cannot overcome significant systemic and logistical challenges, nor can one person or one electoral event transform a political culture in which stolen elections and disregard for basic democratic principles have been the norm for decades," Johnnie Carson, the top U.S. diplomat for Africa, said in a speech Tuesday.
Outside of Jega's influence, politicians maintain murky ties with local gangs and militants from the nation's oil-rich southern delta to its arid north. Human Rights Watch estimates at least 85 people have died in recent months in political violence.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/04/08/2157491/explosion-at-election-office-ahead.html#ixzz1IxXZDRrf
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