Two cars exploded outside the justice ministry after an earlier threat by oil militants to target the festivities.
The explosions were not heard at Eagle Square, where President Goodluck Jonathan was inspecting a guard of honour at the time.
Nigeria is a major oil producer yet most of the population live in poverty.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), a militant group in the oil-rich south, issued a threat on Friday morning saying it intended to bomb the event.
In the message, the group which is demanding a fairer distribution of the country's oil revenues, said that there was "nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure".
If Mend are responsible for the blasts, it would be the first time that the group has targeted the capital.
The BBC's Ahmed Idris says he saw bloody footprints at the scene as emergency workers moved bodies into vehicles.
"There are seven bodies, including a senior police officer," a police source told AFP news agency.
Our reporter says there may have been a smaller third explosion within the parade ground, but security staff at the time said it was a gun that had gone off accidentally.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS --
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