Senate leader says flawed Nigeria poll will spawn hatred

By Tom Ashby

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria will face a legacy of hatred because of its flawed election and has lost the opportunity to be an example for Africa, Senate president Ken Nnamani said on Sunday.

Nnamani is Nigeria's third most senior state official. The government accused him on Sunday of trying to foment a coup.

"There will be a legacy of hatred. People will hate the new administration and they will have a crisis of legitimacy," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Independent Nigerian election observers called for Saturday's poll to be rerun because ballots arrived late or not at all in many areas.

"From the reports I am getting across the country, there was late arrival of materials, political thugs and uniformed people carting away materials and random allocations of numbers," Nnamani said.

The electoral commission has acknowledged late arrival of materials in the southeast, but said it was proud of the election overall.

"The poll we had yesterday was free and fair. Nobody was molested," said commission chief Maurice Iwu.

Early results from three states on Sunday indicated victory for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).