Nigeria's Supreme Court threw out a challenge to President Goodluck Jonathan's election victory in April, upholding the result and rejecting calls by the main opposition party for a recount in several parts of the country. Jonathan was declared winner with 59 percent of the vote but his nearest rival, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who scored 32 percent, refused to accept the outcome.
Buhari's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) party filed a petition to challenge it in May, arguing the vote was marred by irregularities. But the Supreme Court's judgement on Wednesday upheld earlier rulings by lower courts in Jonathan's favour. "The judgement of the lower court is affirmed and consequently the third respondent (Goodluck Jonathan) ... won the election conducted on 16 April 2011," Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye told the court on Wednesday, reading out a unanimous decision by seven judges.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.