Nigeria weighs last few votes

ABUJA, Nigeria, April 27 (UPI) -- If elections aren't conducted in some parts of Nigeria, there may be a state of emergency imposed, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said.

Elections are scheduled for parts of Nigeria this week. Voting was delayed in northern Nigeria after protests greeted Jonathan's election as president earlier this month.

Gubernatorial elections were conducted Tuesday in 29 of the 36 states in the country. Elections in the states of Bauchi and Kaduna were delayed till Thursday, however, because of violence in the two northern states.

Christian supporters of Jonathan clashed with Muslim rivals in the north who backed his main challenger Muhammadu Buhari.

Jonathan said he didn't see a need to postpone the vote again because there were more security personnel deployed to the north.

He said violence could force additional delays in state elections but stressed he wasn't in any rush to postpone the vote any further.

State and national officials were studying the situation before making any final decision, he added.

Nigerian elections in the past were marred by rampant violence and widespread allegations of fraud. The international community said the latest round of elections were relatively calm, however.