By Joy Simon MINNA, Nigeria, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Nigerian police used teargas on Saturday to quell fighting between supporters of rival candidates for governor of northern Niger state as the ruling party began gubernatorial primaries across the nation. In central Benue state, one policeman was killed by a mob protesting against the outcome of an earlier primary to pick members of the state house of assembly -- the latest death to mar preparations for Nigeria's landmark elections next year. The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is trying to pick its candidates to contest state and federal posts in elections next April that should mark the first democratic transition in Africa's most populous nation. But with Nigeria's history of political violence, ballot stuffing and bribery, fears are running high that the primaries will cause fighting between thugs armed and paid by candidates seeking to impose themselves. Large numbers of police, in some cases equipped with armoured personnel carriers, deployed at the venues of the primaries across Nigeria. In Minna, the capital of Niger state, candidates and their supporters gathered at a stadium to vote but the ballot was cancelled after thugs started hurling missiles and attacking each other with sticks and iron rods. "The situation is getting out of hand. It's beyond what I can control. Because of that we have agreed that the election be postponed until Wednesday next week," said Sunday Ako, the PDP's electoral chairman in the state. The state governor, who is backing one of the 10 would-be governors vying for the PDP ticket, tried to intervene to stop the fighting but instead was pelted with missiles by supporters of rival candidates. Only after police used teargas and charged at the thugs did the crowd disperse. In Gwer local government area of Benue state, protesters unhappy about the outcome of a primary a week ago to select PDP candidates for the state house of assembly blocked a major road. "Police went there to try and re-open the road and disperse the crowd but one police inspector was killed by the mob," said Cletus Akwaya, Benue state's information commissioner. Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship. Violence, rigging and corruption remain at the heart of the political system despite official rhetoric about the dividends of democracy. The last elections, in 2003, were marred by widespread cheating and politically motivated violence, according to the U.S. State Department. The 2007 polls are even more hotly contested because the president and many state governors are nearing the end of their second terms and the constitution bars them from seeking a third. Intense power struggles are taking place at every level. Nigeria, Africa's biggest exporter of crude oil, is also one of the world's most corrupt countries. With state coffers full of windfall earnings from high oil prices, the stakes are huge for candidates hoping to win office and gain access to public funds.
