AFP - The Nigerians are expected to go to the polls Saturday for parliamentary elections that mark the beginning of a milestone for the most populous country in Africa that seeks to forget the previous elections marked by fraud and violence.
The election campaign was marked by acts of violence, including bombings and attacks against political demonstrations, but officials have promised to hold a free and fair election.
The authorities have deployed massive police to ensure the safety of some 73.5 million voters and members of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC).Nigeria's land borders have been closed Friday.
The Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega, a respected academic, has urged the country's leading producer of African oil to organize credible elections and hammered the crucial polls that begin Saturday should go well.
"Driving these elections successfully is of utmost importance for the future of our Nation, so we must not fail and it has to go well," he said.
Mr.Jega also explained that many people hoped that more than 10 years after the return to civilian rule "a stable democratic system within which free, fair and credible would be the usual" was introduced.
"Unfortunately, this is not the case and Nigerians are still waiting to reap the dividends of democracy," he said.
The election of 360 members of the House of Representatives and 109 senators is Saturday, a week before the presidential election (April 9) and two weeks before the elections of governors of 36 states of the federation and regional legislatures (16 April).
The People's Democratic Party (PDP), in power, has a comfortable majority in parliament, but analysts believe the election on Saturday would make him lose a significant amount of seats.
The PDP President Goodluck Jonathan has won every presidential election since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999 and still favorite part for voting on April 9.
His main opponent will be Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, former military ruler of Nigeria (1983-1985) which appears under the banner of the Congress for Democratic Change (CPC).
