Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com). Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it exclusively produces is in the public domain. April 14, 2007 Nigerians Vote for State Officials Ahead of Next Week's Presidential -------------------------------------------------------------------- Election -------- http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1710602:A6F02AD83191E16032709BCCEAB62C759574F7DCC14957C0 Saturday's elections to indicate how Nigerians will vote on presidential ballot next week Officials from Independent National Electoral Commission sort out material being taken to polling centres in Lagos, 14 Apr 2007Nigerians are lining up at polling stations in the first of two nationwide elections that voters hope is the country's first peaceful civilian transfer of power. Observers say the outcome of Saturday elections for state governors and legislators will be an indication how Nigerians will vote on next Saturday's presidential ballot. Scores of people have died in pre-election violence. President Olusegun Obasanjo is urging Nigerians to restrict their movements during the elections, in an attempt to curb political violence. Seven policemen were killed Saturday when gunmen stormed two police stations in Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria's oil producing southern region. The attackers burned the stations to the ground, and freed the inmates. Supporters of a notorious local gang leader claimed credit for the attacks. A hardline Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ja'afar Adam, was killed in the city of Kano Friday while leading morning prayers. Friday, officials with the Transition Monitoring Group, a coalition of domestic Nigerian election observers, accused the nation's election commission of denying it accreditation to monitor the polls. The group said it hopes to deploy 15,000 observers across the nation, but that the election commission has provided only 200 authorization cards. The courts have yet to resolve a number of pre-election disputes, including one on whether Vice President Atiku Abubakar will appear on the presidential ballot. Nigeria's electoral commission has disqualified Abubakar on the grounds that a presidential panel indicted him for corruption. Abubakar's followers says the charges are politically motivated. Nigeria has not witnessed power transfer from one elected president to another since gaining independence from Britain in 1960. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters. .