Nigerian tribunal upholds President Jonathan’s victory

Nigeria’s electoral tribunal upheld President Goodluck Jonathan’s victory in the April vote, rejecting calls for fresh elections.

The opposition Congress for Progressive Change failed to prove its case against the ruling People’s Democratic Party and Jonathan, its candidate, Justice Kumai Akaahs, chairman of the tribunal of five judges, said today in Abuja, the capital. The petition against the president “failed in its entirety and is hereby dismissed” by unanimous decision, he said.

The Congress for Progressive Change, whose candidate was the runner-up in the vote, filed a petition at the tribunal in May challenging Jonathan’s victory. The party asked the tribunal to cancel results in 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states due to alleged electoral malpractice.

The opposition party will appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court, Tony Momoh, its national chairman, told reporters in court today.

Jonathan, 53, a Christian from the oil-rich Niger River delta region, defeated former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, a northern Muslim, in the April 16 vote by 57 percent to 31 percent, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission. Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party has won all the presidential elections since 1999 when the West African nation, Africa’s biggest oil producer, returned to civilian rule.

Riots After Vote

Local and international observers described the April vote as Nigeria’s fairest in more than a decade.

Jonathan’s victory triggered riots across the north that killed more than 800 people and led to the burning of churches, mosques and homes, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. At least 75,000 people were forced to flee their homes as a result of the violence, the National Emergency Management Agency said on April 28.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with more than 160 million people, is split between a mainly Christian south and a north dominated by Muslims. While Buhari won all 12 northern states, Jonathan took 23 of 24 central and southern states.

Nigeria is the fifth-largest source of U.S. oil imports. Paris-based Total SA, Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. of San Ramon, California, and Eni SpA of Rome run joint ventures with the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. that pump more than 90 percent of the nation’s oil.

The case is Congress for Progressive Change v. People’s Democratic Party, Goodluck Jonathan, Namadi Sambo and others, CA/A/EPC/PRES/1/2011, Appeal Court of Justice, Abuja.