Abeokuta, Nigeria - Former Nigeria President Olusegun Obasanjo Saturday condemned the bombing of the electoral office in Suleja, in northern Niger State, which left 13 dead and over 50 injured on Friday night. 'It is a phenomenon that must be condemned. That is part of our democratic process that is new,' Obasanjo said after his accreditation for Saturday's parliamentary election at a polling station in front of his residence in Abeokuta, South-west Nigeria. 'I took part in the 1959 election until 2007, we have not had situations where people take a bomb to INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) office,' he said. Obasanjo said it was necessary to appeal to all Nigerians that election should not be a reason for people to lose their lives.

As a way of saving the situation, he said security issues must be in the front burner for  any government that will come after this election.

Critics of the former President blame him for the worsening violence in Nigeria's elections, especially after he labelled the the 2007 general elections a do-or-die one.

Some 73.5 million registered Nigerians are voting Saturday to elect 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives, in the first of a three-phase general elections

Pana 10/04/2011