Achebe fears for Nigeria s polls

Mr Achebe says Nigeria is “as low as she has ever gone”

Renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe has told the BBC he does not believe Nigeria’s national elections, due later this month, will be credible.“Democracy has not progressed in Nigeria - corruption has not diminished,” he said about President Olusegun Obasanjo’s time in office.

But the electoral commission’s Ibrahim Biyu said US-based Mr Achebe was not aware of developments on the ground.

Reforms had been put in place to minimise rigging and fraud, he said.

Mr Achebe’s most famous book, Things Fall Apart, has sold some 11 million copies around the world.

President Obasanjo is stepping down after two terms in office.

The polls should become the first transfer of power in Africa’s most populous country from one elected leader to another since independence in 1960.