(Adds reactions in paragraphs 9-10) By Tom Ashby ABUJA, April 14 (Reuters) - Election irregularities sparked pockets of violence across Nigeria on Saturday in a vote which should lead to the first fully democratic transition of power in Africa's most populous nation. Saturday's election of state governors and lawmakers was a test of the strength of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) and should give Nigerians an idea of what to expect from presidential polls in a week's time. Voting began hours late in most places and ballot papers failed to turn up at all in some locations in the north, east and southern oil-producing Niger Delta, sparking violent protests and boycotts by the opposition. Youths protesting against the absence of ballots in the southern Anambra and Delta states torched three offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Eight people were killed in three different states when armed men stormed polling booths to steal ballot boxes, local media reported. Seven policemen died when their outpost in the southern oil city Port Harcourt was burned down, and three civilians were shot dead by suspected hitmen in nearby Andoni. Voting in the southeastern hub of Enugu only began in the mid-afternoon, when polling stations were already due to close. "Many of us have not voted and we have no chance of voting," said Senate President Ken Nnamani, a PDP member from Enugu, on local television. "Any person being declared a winner as far as Enugu is concerned has no mandate of anybody. People believe that the result has already been predetermined." A coalition of opposition parties warned INEC not to announce results for northeastern Gombe state because of deficient voting. REACTIONS INEC chairman Maurice Iwu said he was generally satisfied. "We did not anticipate a 100-percent hitch-free election. One or two infractions would not make the election and its results unacceptable," he told a news conference. Opposition Action Congress spokesman Lai Mohammed said there were "massive irregularities and fraud". "Soldiers and police have been used to intimidate voters, cart away ballot boxes and rig in favour of the PDP," he said. Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous army rule, and these polls should bring the first handover from one elected president to another since independence from Britain in 1960. Dozens of people have been killed in political violence in the months leading up to the poll. Controversial indictments for fraud have disqualified dozens of mostly opposition candidates. Poor preparation of the voter register and lack of accreditation for observers also raised doubts about the credibility of the exercise. Nigerian governors control big budgets and have enormous powers in their states, making the gubernatorial polls as important to many Nigerians as the April 21 presidential vote. The PDP now controls 28 of the 36 states, with the rest split between a handful of opposition parties. With unrivalled funds and powers of incumbency, the PDP should coast to victory, analysts say. But endemic corruption, failure to deliver basic services and deteriorating security have boosted the chances of the opposition in many states. (Additional reporting by Ardo Hazzad and Mike Oboh in Kano, Estelle Shirbon and Austin Ekeinde in Port Harcourt, Tume Ahemba and Daniel Flynn in Lagos, Ibrahim Mshelizza in Maiduguri, Ijeoma Ezekwere in Obiaruku) (To follow the Nigeria election online click on http://africa.reuters.com/nigeriaelection/)
