By Nick Tattersall
UYO, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria headed to the polls on Tuesday to choose powerful state governors amid fears of a resurgence of the violence that left hundreds dead after a presidential election earlier this month.
Tuesday's vote is the last stage of an election process that while considered to have been the fairest in decades has not escaped the unrest long associated with Nigerian politics.
The vote is expected to be fiercely fought as the 36 state governors are some of Nigeria's most powerful politicians, wielding influence at the national level and controlling budgets in some cases larger than those of small African nations.
In the federal parliament polls earlier this month, few voters could name their candidates and turnout was low. There was more enthusiasm at the presidential election a week later, but the debate on the street was around personalities rather than policies.
On Tuesday, much more is at stake.
"It determines who governs the soul of your state," said Tony Effiong, 28, a student waiting to vote in Uyo, as armed police and soldiers manned checkpoints around the city of corrugated iron roofs among mango and palm trees.
"Everybody wants their voice to be heard and they believe that their governor is closer to them than the president," Effiong said as scores of people lined up to be accredited even before voting materials had arrived.
This month's elections have already been an emotional rollercoaster for the 73 million registered voters in Nigeria, which -- until 10 days ago -- had failed to hold a single credible election since the end of military rule in 1999.
Hundreds were feared dead after violence erupted in the mostly Muslim north last week after Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, was declared winner by a wide margin of an April 16 presidential election.
Supporters of his northern opponent Muhammadu Buhari rejected the results and took to the streets, burning churches, mosques and homes to the ground.
Tens of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in army barracks where they are being looked after by aid agencies. Tuesday's vote has been delayed by two days in the northern states of Kaduna and Bauchi, two of the worst-hit areas.
VOTER CAUTION
There were signs that voters were cautious in other areas hard hit by violence, including in the ancient northern city of Kano, where some election organisers chose to stay indoors.
"The turnout of voters is very low ... even my fellow corps members are not here because of fear of insecurity," said Mahmud Abubakar, a member of the National Youth Corps, graduates doing their national service by helping run polling units.
State polls have in the past led to unrest in the Niger Delta, the southern heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, where politicians armed thugs to intimidate voters.
There has already been violence in some parts of the region, including rioting in Akwa Ibom and attacks on rallies in Bayelsa, and the security forces are on high alert.
The opposition Action Congress of Nigeria party said at least three of its supporters were killed in the village of Ikot Osudu overnight in an attempt to intimidate voters. The police said it was a simple armed robbery.
An Islamic sect is suspected of being behind bomb blasts that killed at least two people in northeast Nigeria on Sunday.
Africa's most populous country, with more people than Russia, is split almost equally between a mainly Muslim north and a majority Christian south, although large minority groups live in both regions.
Jonathan may have been declared the winner of the presidential race but his ruling People's Democratic Party, which has already seen its parliamentary majority weakened, is expected to lose ground at the state level.
A poll by global research firm Ipsos published in This Day newspaper on Monday showed the PDP, which currently controls more than two thirds of the 36 states, could lose as many as nine to opposition parties.
The Congress for Progressive Change of former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, Jonathan's main rival in the presidential race, who claims rigging deprived him of victory, is expected to perform strongly in the north.
(Additional reporting by Mike Oboh in Kano and Shuaibu Mohammed in Jos; writing by Joe Brock; editing by James Jukwey and Giles Elgood)