CALABAR, Nigeria (Reuters) – A Nigerian court annulled the election of a state governor on Monday in the tenth such ruling since nationwide polls more than a year ago that were deemed not credible by international observers.
An appeals court in the southeastern city of Calabar quashed the April 14, 2007 election of Cross River state Governor Liyel Imoke of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and ordered a re-run within 90 days.
Judge Suleiman Galadima, who cited non-compliance with the electoral law for the annulment, instructed the speaker of the state house of assembly to take over as acting governor pending a fresh vote.
“The respondents (Imoke and the national electoral body) could not produce any witness or result sheet to substantiate substantial compliance with the Electoral Act,” Galadima said.
“The governor should vacate office immediately.”
The appeal was brought by a coalition of opposition parties which said they were not given fair hearing by the lower court.
Nigerian courts had already upturned nine other state governor elections and ordered fresh polls. Re-runs have so far been held in four states, all won by the PDP.
Last year’s elections, including the presidential vote, were billed to be a landmark in Africa’s top oil producer, marking the first transfer of power from one civilian leader to another since independence from Britain in 1960.
But the polls were so chaotic, with widespread vote-rigging, ballot-stuffing, violence and intimidation, that European Union observers said the results were not credible.
The PDP was declared winner of 28 of 36 state governorship elections, while President Umaru Yar’Adua was named winner of the presidential poll with more than 70 percent of the vote.
Hundreds of results from the April 2007 polls were challenged at the election tribunals, which have also annulled dozens of state and federal legislative results.
Yar’Adua’s challengers in the presidential race — former army ruler Muhammadu Buhari and ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar — have appealed to the Supreme Court after a tribunal dismissed their complaints and turned down demands for a re-run. The court is due to start reviewing their appeal later this year.