Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Nigeria opposition goes to court over election result
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Photos of the week
A selection of our top photos from the past week. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Obama pays tribute to unit in bin Laden raid
|
06 May 2011
Majority agree with Obama decision on bin Laden photos: poll
2:40pm EDT
New Jersey train hits abutment, roughly 40 injured
12:10pm EDT
River flooding begins to "wrap arms" around Memphis
|
07 May 2011
Louisiana governor Jindal caught in birther flap
07 May 2011
Discussed
168
Obama to make statement late Sunday, White House says
151
Concerns raised over shooting of unarmed bin Laden, burial
139
Obama at U.S. base to pay tribute to bin Laden mission
Watched
US releases video of bin Laden from compound
Sat, May 7 2011
Bin Laden on tape
Sat, May 7 2011
After bin Laden Obama focuses on economy
Sat, May 7 2011
Nigeria opposition goes to court over election result
Tweet
Share this
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA (Reuters) - The main defeated opposition party in Nigeria's presidential election went to court Sunday to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan's victory and demand fresh elections in several parts of the country.
Jonathan...
Email
Print
Related News
Singapore ruling party retains power but PM eyes change
4:19am EDT
Singapore's PAP retains power; opposition makes gains
Sat, May 7 2011
Britons punish Lib Dems for coalition role
Fri, May 6 2011
Canada Tories to follow tax-cut, pro-business agenda
Tue, May 3 2011
Analysis: Nigeria's new political landscape to test Jonathan
Thu, Apr 28 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Obama and the vexed issue of immigration
What happens in CONCACAF, stays in CONCACAF….
Related Topics
World »
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA |
Sun May 8, 2011 3:40pm EDT
ABUJA (Reuters) - The main defeated opposition party in Nigeria's presidential election went to court Sunday to challenge President Goodluck Jonathan's victory and demand fresh elections in several parts of the country.
Jonathan was declared winner of the April 16 election with 59 percent of the vote but his nearest rival, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who polled 32 percent, has refused to accept the outcome.
Buhari's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) filed a petition against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and against Jonathan in the capital Abuja Sunday saying the vote had been marred by irregularities.
The party has said electoral commission computers were rigged to sway the count against Buhari, a northern Muslim, in parts of the north, and that the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) vote was inflated in some of its southern strongholds.
"We are not quarrelling with voting. We are quarrelling with collation," CPC chairman Tony Momoh told journalists shortly after filing the petition.
"We want the tribunal to nullify elections in those areas where there were flaws and conduct fresh elections in those areas," he said.
Rioting erupted in largely Muslim opposition strongholds in the north after the victory of Jonathan, a Christian from the south, was announced. Churches, mosques, homes and shops were set ablaze and at least 500 people were killed.
But observers and most Nigerians say the vote was the most credible for decades in Africa's most populous nation, which had experienced virtually nothing but military rule and rigged elections for the past half century.
Legal challenges marred the first few years in office of Jonathan's predecessor, Umaru Yar'Adua, who came to power in 2007 elections deemed to have been among the country's worst ever, undermining his ability to govern strongly.
The CPC's challenge is unlikely to have as serious an impact on Jonathan as he looks to form a new cabinet after his inauguration at the end of the month.
The elections were broadly given a clean bill of health by international and local observers and Jonathan has pledged to form an "all-inclusive" government.
Although Buhari was ahead in almost all of the states in northern Nigeria, Jonathan also picked up millions of votes in the region, giving him a credible national mandate.
The PDP saw its parliamentary majority weaken in the elections and also lost control of several states in governorship races held 10 days after the presidential vote.
The candidate for the opposition All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) party was Saturday declared winner of the governorship election in the southeastern state of Imo, the final state to conclude its vote.
The result means the ruling PDP now controls 23 of Nigeria's 36 states, down from 27 during the previous administration.
(Writing by Nick Tattersall, Editing by Andrew Heavens)
World
Tweet this
Share this
Link this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language, all capital letters or appear to be spam, and we review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters.
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Monday, 9 May 2011 Yemen's opposition urges Gulf states to press Saleh
|
Nigeria opposition goes to court over election result
|
France's Sarkozy may not make 2012 runoff
|
Apple, Google to face lawmakers in privacy tussle
|
Internet boom 2.0 is here, starts to look bubbly
|
Syrian president sends tanks into major city
|
Japan may close nuclear plant, tiny radiation leak at another
|
Security forces fire on Yemen protest, 10 wounded
|
Japan, U.S. plan nuclear waste storage in Mongolia: paper
|
South Korea ruling party mulls policy shift amid crisis
|
Thousands of Mexicans march to protest drug war
|
Bin Laden had support network in Pakistan: Obama
|
Datum Peru poll shows virtual tie in run-off vote
|
Apple usurps Google as world's most valuable brand
|
Angry Birds developer eyes IPO in 3-4 years: report
|
Cisco and Xerox partner on cloud computing, print services
|
Moviegoers not eager to see Mel Gibson's Beaver
|
Simon Cowell blames lawyers for Abdul delay
|
William & Kate star joins Californication
|
Cannes turns to big stars, edgy auteurs
|
Iraq's Qaeda pledges support to Zawahri, vows attacks
|
Libyan rebels reclaim legacy of Italian-era warrior
|
South Korea will invite North to summit if conditions met
|
Biden, Clinton bluntly press China on rights
|
NATO planes pound Libyan government weapons depot
|
U.S., China talks aim to keep irritants in check
|
LinkedIn IPO price values company at over $3 billion
|
Twitter outings undermine super injunctions
|
Groupon, Live Nation to launch new ticketing deals site
|
Nvidia to buy cellphone radio maker for $367 million
|
More parents lenient about young Web use: poll
|
Apple, Google to face lawmakers in privacy tussle
|
Wave to pay chipmaker hires IPO banks: sources
|
NBC Today's Vieira leaving, to be replaced by Curry
|
William & Kate star joins Californication
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights