(Updates with statement from president)

By Estelle Shirbon

ABUJA, Dec 17 (Reuters) - Nigeria's ruling party won 102 out of 103 seats in elections for local council chairmen in five southern states at the weekend, official results showed on Monday, but the opposition condemned the polls as "a farce".

President Umaru Yar'Adua, whose own electoral victory in April is being challenged in court over alleged fraud, said he was greatly concerned and saddened by reports of widespread vote-rigging during Saturday's local elections.

A statement from the presidency said Yar'Adua had summoned the 36 state governors as well as chairmen of the ruling and opposition parties to discuss the problems.

"President Yar'Adua will make it clear at his meeting with the governors that as head of state ... he will never condone the wilful subversion of the will of the people," his spokesman said in a statement.

Saturday's local elections followed a similar script to the nationwide polls in April, which were judged "not credible" by European Union observers who reported widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.

Electoral officials and politicians from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) said the local polls were clean, but newspapers reported at least four deaths in fighting between rival party supporters and numerous cases of blatant fraud.

According to official results, the PDP won every single seat in southwestern Oyo, Ondo and Ogun states and in southern Edo state. In southeastern Enugu, it won 15 out of 16.

"THERE WAS NO ELECTION"

"What happened was a farce. There was no election. Did you see voters? Were there even electoral officers at most polling booths?" Tajudeen Bello, chairman of the opposition Action Congress party, was quoted as saying by Vanguard newspaper.

"They are just allocating figures and the result of such election should be rejected by all," he said.

The results of April's elections for president, state governors and legislators are still being disputed.

Courts have overturned five of the 36 gubernatorial election results, in each case because of fraud by the PDP. Many more legislative results have also been cancelled by the courts.

Yar'Adua's position is still in doubt, with his two closest rivals challenging his victory before a special electoral tribunal in the capital Abuja. He has said he would respect the decision of the court, which is expected early next year.

Yar'Adua acknowledged in his inaugural speech that the elections that brought him to power were flawed and promised to reform the electoral system. He set up a committee to draft reform plans but nothing concrete has come out of that yet.

In Monday's statement, Yar'Adua's spokesman said the president was disappointed that the political class appeared to be "carrying on as before" rather than embracing his reforms.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and biggest exporter of crude oil, returned to civilian rule in 1999 after three decades of almost continuous military dictatorship.

But Human Rights Watch said in October that the behaviour of the ruling class has made a mockery of Nigerian democracy.

Nigeria is one of the world's most corrupt countries, according to independent watchdog Transparency International, and public office is mostly seen as an avenue to personal wealth. Pro-democracy campaigners say politicians stop at almost nothing to win office and get their slice of the cake. (Editing by Giles Elgood)

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