Nigeria postpones parliamentary elections to Monday

The postponement was a major blow to hopes that a better organized vote, the first in a series this month, would help the country of 150 million break with a record of chaotic elections marred by fraud and violence.The postponement was announced hours after voters had begun to gather at polling stations for registration.

Voters had gathered eagerly to register at polling stations across the country's two most populous cities -- the commercial hub Lagos in the south and Kano in the north.

Some voters in Lagos reported that their names were not on the register of voters.

"I wanted to vote before but now that they could not find my name - so I don't think I will vote," said Lagos resident Abdulallahi Aisha.

"My father, my son, my junior brother, even our wives, we register in the same polling. 011, unit 011, and all our names, all Sobalajus, are not on the list. The whole family - I don't know whether it's a deliberate attempt," said Rashi Sobalaju.

Voting materials failed to arrive in the capital Abuja and other regions, including Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states in the southern oil-producing Niger Delta, Plateau state in the central "Middle Belt" and Borno in the remote northeast.

The parliamentary polls are seen as a test of whether Nigeria can break with a history of vote fraud and violence. Presidential elections are due in a week's time and governorship votes in the 36 states a week after that.

The electoral commission has put in place tougher measures to prevent cheating and intimidation, which raised such doubts over the last elections in 2007 that foreign observers said they may not have reflected the will of the people.