A dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on Monday on Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria’s largest state of Kano as protests greeted a delay in the results of weekend polls.
State police Commissioner Tukur Kafur announced the curfew to circumvent protests by angry supporters of the ruling All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the state.
He said the supporters who made bonfires on major streets and roads in the state were accusing the electoral commission (Inec) of attempting to rig the governorship vote for the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Kano is ruled by the ANPP, but the PDP, which controls the central government, has vowed to take over the state.
Armed police and soldiers have been deployed around the Inec office in Kano, a police officer said.
Kano, a flashpoint for both religious and communal violence, is among 10 states where results were still being awaited on Monday.
The polls were characterised by widespread violence that left at least 21 people dead, and a curfew has also been imposed on two other states — Ondo and Bauchi.
Disqualification reversed
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Supreme Court on Monday reversed an Inec ruling that disqualified a top opposition politician, Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, from the weekend’s presidential poll.
In a unanimous verdict, the seven justices ruled that the lower court of appeal “was in error” in holding that the commission had the power to disqualify any candidate.
The Supreme Court, however, said that it would give the reason for its decision only on June 29.
An Abuja appeals court had on April 3 ruled that Inec did have the power to disqualify a candidate from running in the April 21 elections.
“It is my considered view that not only has the appellant [Inec] the power to screen and disqualify candidates but to remove the name of candidates without recourse to court,” said the April 3 statement.
Shortly after the Supreme Court ruling, Inec lawyer Joe Gadzama said: “The Supreme Court has spoken. What it means is that anybody can contest.”
Abubakar’s spokesperson Shehu Garba hailed the court’s decision. “It is a fantastic decision. It is a big relief to every lover of democracy in this land because this judgement is not for the vice-president alone. This is to free Nigerian democracy from arbitrariness. It is a vote for due process of the law in this country.”
Inec’s recently published final list of those eligible to contest elections this month excluded Abubakar pending determination of his case at the Supreme Court.
State governorship and parliamentary polls were held on Saturday, while presidential and National Assembly elections are fixed for April 21.
Inec barred Abubakar, President Olusegun Obasanjo’s deputy since the return of democratic rule in May 1999, after he was indicted on alleged corruption charges by a panel of enquiry.
Since then, Abubakar (60), a former senior customs officer, has been battling in several courts to get his name cleared and inserted in the electoral list. He is the candidate of Action Congress, one of the two main challengers to the ruling PDP in the elections. — AFP