LAGOS (Reuters) - A Nigerian court annulled the election of a state governor on Friday in the ninth such ruling since national polls a year ago that were deemed not credible by international observers.
An appeals court in the northern city of Kaduna quashed theelection of Sokoto state Governor Aliyu Wamakko of the rulingPeople's Democratic Party (PDP) and ordered fresh polls within90 days.
Judge Zainab Bulkachuwa instructed the speaker of the statehouse of assembly to take over as acting governor in theinterim.
She said Wamakko was not qualified for the election becausehe had not spent at least two years in the PDP as stipulated bylaw when he was nominated. Wamakko crossed over to the PDP afew days before the April 14, 2007 vote after he was originallynominated by the opposition All Nigeria People's Party.
Last year's polls were billed as a democratic milestone inAfrica's top oil producer, marking the first transfer of powerfrom one elected leader to another since 1960 when Nigeriagained independence from Britain.
But the elections were so chaotic, with widespreadvote-rigging, ballot-stuffing and intimidation, that EuropeanUnion observers said the results were not credible.
The PDP was declared winner of 28 of 36 state governorshipelections, while President Umaru Yar'Adua was named winner ofthe presidential poll with more than 70 percent of the vote.
Hundreds of results are being challenged at electiontribunals, which have also overturned dozens of state andfederal legislative results. Before Friday's ruling, eightother state governor election results had been overturned bycourts.
Yar'Adua's challengers in the presidential race -- formerhead of state Muhammadu Buhari and ex-vice president AtikuAbubakar -- have appealed to the Supreme Court after a tribunaldismissed their complaints and turned down demands for are-run.
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(Reporting by Tume Ahemba, Editing by Pascal Fletcher)
