By  CHIOMA GABRIEL, Deputy Editor

Parties in make or mar struggle for 469 N/A seats
Nigerians in their millions are trooping out today to elect members of the National Assembly who will represent their interest over the next four years, in the first in the series of this year’s elections.

At stake 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 the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to vote in the 120,000 polling booths designated for the purpose.

The commission has deployed 36,000 Ad-Hoc staff to conduct the elections, while 370,000 policemen have been mobilised to provide security. This figure excludes soldiers and members of para-military organisation who are to help in checking violence which seemed to be on the rise in the days immediately preceding today’s polls.

Today’s election is expected to set the tone for the subsequent ones — Presidential which comes up on April 9, and the Governorship/State Assembly scheduled for April 16.

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP; Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN; Congress for Progressive Change, CPC; and All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP are contesting all the elections.

Forty-seven other parties opted to contest selected positions.

The PDP won the 1999, 2003 and 2007 elections into the National Assembly.
The INEC has promised to release results of the elections within 48 hours although it says it will not compromise on the verification of such results.

Today’s election will show whether the Attahiru Jega-led INEC is capable of giving Nigeria an election in which votes really count.

Professor Jega said in Abuja on Wednesday that the commission had done everything within its power to ensure that the elections are truly free and fair.

Material for the elections have already been distributed to the different states and local government areas for onward distribution to the polling booths.

The elections are the most expensive in Nigeria’s history with INEC requesting N87.7 billion.