Abuja: A governor who was ousted by a
court in Nigeria`s oil rich delta region was re-elected in a
rerun election.
However, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who defeated his major
opponent, Great Ogboru of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP)
by 275,253 to 138,244 votes will serve only the remaining of
his court terminated tenure which ends in May.
His opponent said many voters were not allowed to
exercise their franchise after the announcement of the results
by the country`s Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC).
The poll was regarded as a major test for the
countries new INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega who has
never conducted any elections.
During the polls, additional security measures led to
the restriction of movement of vehicles throughout the polling
period particularly in Asaba, the Delta State capital and
offenders had their cars seized temporarily by the military.
But there were reports of ballot snatching and
intimidation of voters which INEC described as isolated.
It also invalidated suspicious ballot papers.
Bomb blasts have rocked the country in recent weeks
making the atmosphere to general elections scheduled for this
year tense. Recently, two bombs exploded wounding some people
at the campaign ground of a governorship aspirant in
neighbouring Bayelsa state.
The oil rich African country is gearing up for its
fourth elections after the military relinquished power in 1999
following many years of dictatorships by army generals.
On Christmas eve 32 people were killed while more than
100 got wounded on when strings of bombing hit Jos town in
central Nigeria just as suspected Islamic fundamentalists
massacred six Christian worshippers in a nearby town of
Maiduguri.
The casualty figure later rose to 82 even as another
killing of three persons was reported in the same zone.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
had announced April 9 as the date for the country`s
presidential elections following an amendment of the
constitution by the parliament.
Nigeria, Africa`s biggest democracy with a population
of 150 million returned to civil rule in 1999 after several
years of military intervention.
Since then, presidential elections which are conducted
every four years have been won by the PDP.
PTI
