Voting equipment stolen at airport

LAGOS (AP):

Thieves infiltrated Nigeria's main international airport and stole just-arrived equipment needed to register voters in the oil-rich nation ahead of next year's hotly contested presidential election, an official said on Thursday.

The theft at Murtala Muhammed International Airport included an undisclosed number of laptops and cameras, said Kayode Idowu, a spokesman for the Independent National Electoral Commission. Officials hoped to use the gear to register an estimated 70 million eligible voters next month in preparation for the April election.

Idowu said the theft "is not substantially affecting the plans" for the coming voter registration drive.

"It is not as if it has derailed the programme," the spokesman told The Associated Press.

By Thursday afternoon, the commission said it had recovered 16 of the 20 stolen machines.

"There are adequate safety features to forestall any nefarious use of the stolen items," the commission said in a statement.

The theft, while not immediately linked to corrupt politicians, is a troubling sign heading into Nigeria's election. The West African nation emerged from dictatorships into an unsteady democracy only a decade ago, with thuggery and fraud a common feature in local, state and federal elections.

Fair election

International observers called the 2007 election of the late President Umaru Yar'Adua rigged, even though it represented the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the nation's history.

The election commission and current President Goodluck Jonathan have promised to hold a free and fair election. To do that, officials tossed out former voter registration lists full of names of the dead and the fictitious. Precincts that see few voters sometimes reporting a 100 per cent turnout in highly contested local elections.

The commission signed contracts worth more than $230 million to buy the voter registration equipment. It identified companies supplying the equipment as Avante International Technology Inc, Haier Electrical Appliances Ltd and Zinox Technologies Ltd.

The theft also raises new questions about security at the airport. The US put a six-year ban on direct flights from Murtala Muhammed in the 1990s over security concerns. Even today, some passengers encounter airport officials who try to solicit cash bribes while baggage handlers rifle through luggage for valuables.