Nigeria's largest opposition party will join the new government after the two sides agreed to work together on electoral reform and reviewing last-minute privatisations by the previous administration. The rival parties announced the deal on Wednesday after two days of talks called by President Umaru Yar'Adua.
Yar'Adua wants to form a "government of national unity" because the April election that brought him to power was labelled "not credible" by international observers.
The two sides agreed to work together to review the electoral process, the constitution and a series of privatisations made in the dying days of the last government, they said in a joint communique. "Consequent on this agreement, the ANPP (All Nigeria People's Party) accepts to participate in the Yar'Adua administration," it said.
Party sources said the talks had split the ANPP into two factions and the party's presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, had distanced himself from any deal. Opposition candidates have filed dozens of petitions in electoral tribunals contesting the election results, which gave Yar'Adua 24.6 million votes against 6.6 million for Buhari.
Yar'Adua has said he does not want to waste time arguing over elections with so many pressing problems in Nigeria, including unrest in the oil-producing Niger Delta, poverty and violent crime.
ANPP officials said they would not withdraw their cases because of this agreement. The ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) is still in talks with two other opposition parties in the hope of signing similar deals.