Nigeria starts to elect governorship and members of Houses of Assembly in the 36 states on Saturday.

About 61 million registered voters are called to cast their ballots in more than 20,000 polling stations across the country.

To ensure the smooth election marking the beginning of gubernatorial power transition, the Nigerian federal government on Friday ordered the closure of all the country's land and sea borders for Saturday's governorship and state assembly elections.

The closure, which takes effect from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., will not affect air borders.

Minister of Internal Affairs Oluyemi Adeniji said the borders were shut as part of measures put in place by the federal government to have a hitch-free elections.

Nigerian army has been on the full alert for the security of the country, and in some chaotic places, such as Ibadan, soldiers are obligated to maintain order during the polls period till April 21 when the presidential election and national assembly election are held.

In Lagos, Nigeria's commercial center, the police on Friday deployed over 20,000 men for election duty in the state.

All of them have newly-issued special identity cards against counterfeit marks.

Despite there were clashes in election campaigns, many citizens expressed their willingness to cast votes.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called on Nigerians to vote and the federal government declared two day free on Wednesday for citizens to return to their homes to cast votes.

Obasanjo also urged the citizens to be aware of their safety during the election and reduce unnecessary out-door activities at night in the election period.

Just before the election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had uncovered a plot by some politicians to declare fake results in the governorship and state House of Assembly election holding on Saturday.

The INEC admonished Nigerians to ignore any result of the election that did not emanate from the commission, stressing only the INEC has the power to announce election results.

Source: Xinhua