After several months of legal battle over the legitimacy or otherwise of the April 21, 2007 presidential elections, the presidential election petition tribunal will today deliver its verdict on whether the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and his running mate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, validly emerged winners or not. The Appeal Court President, Justice Umaru Abdulahi, has meanwhile okayed live coverage of the event by the media.
The election was widely described by national and international observers as marred by rigging and irregularities across the nation.
Specifically, the tribunal will give its verdict in two separate, but consolidated petitions filed by the presidential candidates of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his counterpart from the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
In their separate petitions, the two candidates have urged the tribunal to void the election on the claim that the elections were a ruse as, according to them, votes were
merely allotted to candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
They also argued that since the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006, the tribunal had a duty to nullify the results so declared by INEC.
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The decision concerning whether or not the 2007 election was flawed or not will be given later on today. Yar'Adua's opponents filed both petitions. Their main arguments were that the votes were alloted solely to the canidates running on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the the election was not compliant with the rules set by the Electoral Act of 2006. They think that the election should be declared null and void. This shows that theNigerian government is finally dealing with the corrupt government. They are taking a step to no longer allow cheating, bribery, theft, and blackmail within the government.
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