Lagos, Nigeria - The 2, 9 and 16 April general elections in Nigeria, beginning Saturday with the National Assembly polls, dominated media coverage this past week. In months preceding the elections, the papers have highlighted the various incidents leading to the polls. They include arrangements by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the different 'colours' of the electioneering campaigns and pre-election violence which have resulted in the destruction of lives and properties. The INDEPENDENT on Saturday captioned its story '48 parties out of elections', with the riders 'Phone, Internet crash imminent as poll begins today' and 'Flight operations restricted at airports'.

The INDEPENDENT, quoting a source at INEC, reports that as the nation goes to the polls on Saturday to elect members of the National Assembly, 48 of the 63 registered political parties will not be voted for as they did not present candidates.

It did not name the 48 parties but said, 'Indeed none of the 48 parties has a single candidate for the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls.'

'We Must Get It Right This Time, Says Jega' was the GUARDIAN headline on Saturday. The paper said 'As Nigerians go to the polls, INEC has advised those who have no business with election venues to stay clear or risk arrest and prosecution.'

In these categories are people who did not register as voters and those who engaged in double or multiple registration.

INEC Chairman, Jega, while addressing the nation on Friday said the commission would collaborate with security agencies to ensure that those caught violating the instructions, either by multiple registration or underaged who come to the polling units, are arrested and prosecuted.

Reading from a text entitled “We can’t afford to fail,” Jega said today’s election should provide the chance for Nigeria to get it right as a nation. 

On the part of INEC, Jega said the commission had worked tirelessly to put infrastructure, people and procedures in place.

He said: “We have prepared adequately in terms of logistics, the training of our staff and in terms of effective liaison with security agencies to provide security before, during and after elections.'

The NATION captioned its story 'No hiding place for ballot box hijackers — Jega', reporting that in a rare session with editors and news managers in Abuja on Wednesday, Jega opened up on preparations for the poll.

'We are pleased with the state of preparedness. We can look at what we have been doing in different phases. We have done restructuring, we have improved election management, we have conducted voters’ registration. In restructuring, we are careful not to engage in what is called disruptive restructuring. We have recruited and trained the ad hoc staff that we needed for the elections,' the NATION quoted Jega as saying.

The PUNCH, with the headline 'Political parties in supremacy battle', highlighted the 'battles' State by State from where Senators and members of the House of Representatives are expected to emerge.

The SUN also had its story under the headline 'Election riggers’ll be shocked – Jega'.

And the VANGUARD said 'Elections 2011: Jonathan, top govt officials relocate', reporting that President Goodluck Jonathan is among scores of top government officials and politicians who have shifted base to their home towns with a view to “delivering their political roots” to their different parties.

Politicians who fail to win in their constituencies are regarded as lightweights by their colleagues and are often derided as such.

According to the paper, many ministers, governors, commissioners, legislators, and special advisers/special assistants, among others, have also arrived in their home towns and villages to mobilise support for their parties in Saturday's election which will define the subsequent ones – presidential, scheduled for 9 April, and governorship/state assembly, fixed for 16 April.

At stake this Saturday are 469 seats, 360 of which are House of Representatives seats and the remaining 109, senatorial.

A total of 73.5 million people across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory were registered by INEC to vote in the 120,000 polling booths designated for the purpose.

Pana 02/04/2011