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Explosion hits Nigeria election office ahead of polls


    LAGOS (Reuters) - An explosion rocked the local offices of Nigeria's electoral commission in the central town of Suleja on Friday, hours ahead of parliamentary polls, in what one emergency official said appeared to have been a bomb blast.

    "There was an explosion and there are several casualties. It was a suspected bomb blast," Yushua Shuaib, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told Reuters.

    Africa's most populous nation is due to hold parliamentary elections on Saturday and presidential elections a week later. The run-up to the elections has been marred by isolated acts of violence including an attack on a rally in Suleja last month.

    (Reporting by Nick Tattersall)