ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian tribunal on Tuesday rejected opposition demands for a re-run of last year’s presidential election, averting a political crisis in Africa’s most populous nation.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua addresses a rally in Abuja, March 29, 2007. A Nigerian tribunal will uphold or annul the 2007 election of Yar'Adua on Tuesday in a ruling that could either legitimise a deeply flawed poll or push Africa's most populous nation into political limbo. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
Umaru Yar’Adua won a landslide victory, but local and international observers said vote-rigging was so rampant that the results were “not credible”.
A special five-judge tribunal rejected legal challenges filed by the two main opposition candidates, former army ruler Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
“Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan remain the president and vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” said Judge John Fabiyi at the conclusion of a ruling that took more than three hours to deliver.
Major oil exporter Nigeria, a chaotic country of 140 million people, emerged just nine years ago from decades of coups and army rule. Many politicians had feared that instability would return if Yar’Adua’s election was annulled.
The two challengers immediately said they would appeal to the Supreme Court. This could take several more months.
“For us, we have come to the semi-final,” Buhari told reporters immediately after the ruling.
The odds for the Supreme Court decision appear heavily stacked in favour of Yar’Adua after the tribunal rejected every single one of the challengers’ points.
It said Buhari had failed to prove that violations of the electoral law were substantial enough to invalidate Yar’Adua’s victory. It ruled that Abubakar had not been excluded from the poll, as he had alleged, but rather had participated actively.
A woman flips through a newspaper at a vendor stand in the commercial capital of Lagos February 25, 2008. REUTERS/Akiuntunde Akinleye
DISAPPOINTING
“It is a very disappointing judgment,” said Innocent Chukwuma, head of the home-grown Transition Monitoring Group.
“We had expected the tribunal to go beyond mere technicalities and address the yearnings of Nigerians for fair and credible elections,” he said.
But economists said the ruling had strengthened Nigeria’s political stability and this would reassure investors.
“We expect the decision to be positive for the performance of Nigerian markets,” said Razia Khan, regional head of research for Africa at Standard Chartered Bank in London.
Former Nigerian army ruler and opposition politician Muhammadu Buhari (C) enters the court of Appeals in Abuja, February 26, 2008. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde
Uncertainty over whether Yar’Adua would finish his four-year term had slowed policy-making and investment decisions, and economists expressed hope the pace of reform would now pick up.
“The key is whether the greater political certainty translates into more effective government. There is not a lot the government can point to after nine months in power,” said Graham Stock, Africa strategist at JP Morgan in London.
In a statement after the ruling, Yar’Adua pledged to run “a purposeful and result-oriented administration that will yield tangible and visible benefits for all Nigerians”.
He also promised electoral reform to ensure that similar disputes do not arise in future.
Tribunals at state level have cancelled the elections of seven out of 36 state governors who were also elected last April, as well as the elections of the Senate president and dozens of legislators. The rulings cited voting irregularities.
Umaru Yar'Adua

A judge has ruled today that Nigeria's 2007 election results, which saw Umaru Yar'Adua's become president, will not be annulled. Opposition parties claimed that the People's Democratic Party (PDP), of which the President is leader, fixed the results of the 2007 election in his favour and called for a re-run.

The tribunal ruled unanimously against the claims, with Judge Abdulkadir Abubakar Jega stating that there was no evidence that Mr. Yar'Adua had rigged the polls. Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar, leaders of the two opposition parties who launched the case, have both said they will take their complaints to the Supreme Court.

International suspicions were also raised at the time of the election, with some voicing concern over the politcal process. 

The ruling could have negative impacts - it could be seen as an admittance of a 'false democracy' occurring in the last election and therefore undermining the political process in Nigeria. This could cause instability between political rivals and may spark protests.

Yar'Adua assumed office on 29th May 2007 after the election in April, where he won 70% of the vote. Since then, he has became the first Nigerian leader to declare his personal assets, as well as overturning hikes in petroleum and tax made by the previous government. Despite these positive steps, he has also been surrounded by controversy, with several governors who served him before 2007 being charged by the EFCC, the anti-corruption commission.

Election annulments have been passed for seven of thirty-six state governors and even the senate president, David Mark.