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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001440 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOE FOR CAROLYN GAY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR KJUS KDEM NI ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ELECTION TRIBUNALS (PART II) - 
GUBERNATORIAL CHALLENGES 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 1397 
     ¶B. ABUJA 922 
 
ABUJA 00001440  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
This cable is the second in a series on the election tribunal 
process following the April 14 state and April 21 national 
elections. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The results of the April 14 gubernatorial 
elections are being contested in specially established state 
election tribunals (Ref. A).  While most gubernatorial 
election tribunals have yet to convene, petitions from 
aggrieved candidates and parties, including the ruling 
People's Democratic Party (PDP) and major opposition parties 
All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) and Action Congress (AC), 
have been filed nation-wide.  INEC refusal to surrender 
elections-related materials to the tribunals is largely to 
blame for the delays.  Petitioners fear a repeat of 2003 
election tribunals, which were plagued by delays and in the 
end often dismissed the cases on technical grounds or found 
the elections were substantially in line with the law. 
Meanwhile, recent Supreme Court rulings on former Vice 
President Atiku's candidacy and the length of term of Anambra 
Governor Peter Obi have provided hope for an impartial and 
fair hearing of the petitions.  Moves by the Yar'adua 
administration to establish a government of national unity 
have further muddied the waters though, as some fear that 
establishing a unity government will undermine support for 
the petitions filed by Buhari and Atiku.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Three months after INEC announced winners of the 
gubernatorial and presidential elections, most state election 
tribunals have not begun hearing petitions due in part to 
technical or procedural glitches.  More so, however, the 
sluggish pace of proceedings is due to the unwillingness of 
the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to surrender 
elections-related materials, including tally and result 
sheets, ballot papers and boxes, voter registers, and lists 
of staff present at polling stations, for inspection by 
petitioners.  On a federal level, INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu 
has maintained that because he has not been served personally 
as a respondent, the INEC does not have to cooperate with the 
tribunal proceedings.  Plaintiffs argue that Iwu is 
purposefully evading being served in order to contravene 
court orders.  Nonetheless, Iwu's actions have set the tone 
at the state level and complainants in Edo, Ondo, Ogun, Kogi, 
and Abia States (among others) allege that state INEC 
resident electoral commissioners are similarly either eluding 
personal service or preventing the examination of 
elections-related documentation.  Without access to INEC 
documents or officials, petitioners cannot judiciously 
proceed with their cases.  Recognizing the intransigence of 
certain respondents, petitioners are now approaching the 
tribunals to obtain orders for substitute service to 
respondents. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Many petitioners fear that the 2007 election 
tribunal process will be a repeat of 2003.  In the aftermath 
of Nigeria's 2003 gubernatorial elections, which were 
considered marred by irregularities and electoral fraud, most 
petitions to the election tribunals were either jettisoned on 
technical grounds or the tribunals ruled that elections had 
been "substantially" conducted according to the 2002 
Electoral Act.  Only petitions filed in Adamawa and Anambra 
States, notwithstanding protracted deliberation, resulted 
favorably for the plaintiffs.  In the case of Adamawa State, 
Boni Haruna's announcement as winner of the gubernatorial 
race was initially nullified by the Adamawa Election 
Tribunal, though this ruling was later overturned by the 
Federal Court of Appeal which ruled that the conduct of 
elections, though flawed, still complied "substantially" with 
electoral laws.  With respect to Anambra State, All 
Progressive Grand Alliance Party (APGA) candidate Peter Obi 
sought redress at the Anambra Election Tribunal, decrying as 
flawed the electoral process that brought Chris Ngige to 
power.  The tribunal eventually upended Ngige's election and 
declared Obi governor.  At the national level, Buhari spent 
 
ABUJA 00001440  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
thirty months in court only to have the Supreme Court uphold 
the 2003 election results. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) While the Federal Court of Appeal, presided over by 
Justice Abdullahi Umaru, who presided over the same court in 
2003 and who appoints justices to the gubernatorial election 
tribunals in each of Nigeria's thirty-six states, is regarded 
by some as thoroughly compromised and vulnerable to the 
machinations of the Yar'adua administration, the Supreme 
Court has, as of late, shown promising signs of impartiality 
and fairness.  On April 16, the Supreme Court ruled that INEC 
has no "Constitutional power to disqualify a candidate from 
contesting elections without a valid order of a court."  This 
ruling paved the way for Atiku's name to be placed on the 
ballot on April 21.  Based on the precedent set in this case, 
candidates including Ibrahim Bapetel (AC, Adamawa State), 
Abubakar Audu (ANPP, Kogi State), and Peter Okocha (AC, Delta 
State) who were disqualified by INEC prior to the April 14 
gubernatorial elections are seeking to nullify elections in 
those states.  Moreover, on June 14, the Supreme Court ruled 
in favor of Anambra State Governor Peter Obi, contending that 
his tenure as governor commenced the day of his swearing-in 
-- March 10, 2006.  Obi's term in office was ruled to expire 
in 2010.  The April 2007 elections in which Andy Uba was 
declared Governor of Anambra State were therefore judged to 
be null and void. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Uncertainty also persists on the possible impact of 
recent unity government talks on the fate of the presidential 
election tribunal petitions.  Press reports indicate that 
talks continue between the Yar'adua administration, ANPP and 
AC over the formation of a national unity government, with 
all three parties maintaining that the presidential election 
tribunal petitions filed by ANPP and AC need not be 
withdrawn.  That said, there is concern among Buhari's 
supporters that a full endorsement of Yar'adua's government 
by the ANPP may imperil Buhari's election tribunal petition, 
leading financiers and advisors to withdraw support as they 
had done in 2003.  Others note that should Buhari and Atiku 
consolidate their petitions, either by volition or court 
directive, this would substantially fortify their position. 
It remains to be seen, however, whether such a scenario is 
deemed salutary to their distinct self-interests. 
CAMPBELL