NIGERIA ON 'FULL ALERT' FOR POLL !

President Obasanjo says he is committed to a peaceful transition. Nigeria's security forces are on full alert ahead of next week's election, President Olusegun Obasanjo has said.
Mr Obasanjo said he was committed to a peaceful transition and would "clamp down heavily" on anyone threatening to undermine the vote.
Earlier this week, campaign group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Nigerian voters faced violence and intimidation.
It said the government had failed to stop the political violence that has left dozens dead in recent months.
'Gangs mobilised'
"The Nigerian police and all other security agencies have... been placed on full alert to clamp down heavily on any persons who engage in actions that threaten our collective desire for trouble-free elections in the coming days," Mr Obasanjo said.
He is stepping down at the end of next month after two terms in office.
The arming and mobilising of gangs by politicians to harass opponents and intimidate the voting public has already happened
Georgette GagnonHuman Rights Watch
The polls should see the first transfer of power in Africa's most populous country from one elected leader to another since independence in 1960.
The US-based HRW has accused the government of being complacent in the face of election-related violence.
"The arming and mobilising of gangs by politicians to harass opponents and intimidate the voting public has already happened and there seem to be no effort to address that," HRW's Georgette Gagnon told the BBC.
But Ibrahim Biyu, director of voter education at the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), said much had been done to stop vote rigging within the electoral system.
The previous poll, in 2003, was rejected by the main opposition parties as flawed.
Candidate confusion
Meanwhile, it is still unclear whether Vice-President Atiku Abubakar will be allowed to run in the presidential poll.
Inec published its final list of eligible candidates on Sunday, excluding Mr Abubakar, AFP news agency has reported.
Electoral officials are attempting to bar Mr Abubakar from running, saying corruption charges against him would have to be dropped for him to be eligible.
The vice-president became a leading opposition candidate after falling out with former ally Mr Obasanjo.
Two contradictory court judgements mean Mr Abubakar's fate has yet to be decided by Nigeria's Supreme Court.

BBC NEWS REPORT.