Nigeria's governorship polls kick off nationwide

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections kicked off in Nigeria on Saturday two weeks after a presidential election won by the nation's main opposition party.

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said voters in 29 states would elect governors while new state assemblies would be elected in the 36 states.

There are no governorship elections in Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Bayelsa, Kogi, Anambra and Osun because the tenures of their governors are yet to expire.

Accreditation started at about 8 a.m local time with voting proper due to start by 1:30 p.m. local time nationwide.

In Lagos, it has been a peaceful and orderly exercise in most polling units from Victoria Island to Ikeja, but turnout has been low in most polling units, compared to that of the presidential election.

Sources in southern Rivers State told Xinhua security agents mounted road blocks across the state.

Malfunctioning card readers has stalled the commencement of accreditation despite early arrival of officials in some states.

Meanwhile, the Western Naval Command said it was ready to prevent miscreants from using the waterways to cause harm or disrupt Saturday's governorship and Houses of Assembly elections.

The Flag Officer Commanding, Western Naval Command, Rear Adm. Jonathan Ango, told Xinhua that the Nigerian Navy is very much ready and up to the task to prevent any hoodlum or miscreant from disrupting the elections.

Ango said that most of the naval capital ships were at sea and were patrolling the waterways in order to ensure smooth conduct of the elections.

"We have deployed four capital vessels and two coastal patrol boats," he said.

According to Ango, the navy has four inshore patrol boats that are also patrolling the waterways. He assures residents that the waterways will be cool and calm during and after the elections. Endi