Nigerian court sacks governor
2009-02-24 14:05
Lagos - A Nigerian appeal court has sacked the governor of southwestern state of Ondo following complaints of vote irregularities and declared his opponent the winner, local media said on Tuesday.
The Guardian and other newspapers said the appeal court in Benin on Monday upheld a July 26 2008 ruling of the electoral tribunal.
The tribunal said that Governor Olusegun Agagu of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) had not in fact won the April 2007 governorship vote.
The court declared Olusegun Mimiko, a former minister under ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo and candidate of the opposition Labour Party, as the victor.
Mimiko was expected to be sworn in at the state capital Akure on Tuesday.
The April vote in Nigeria was condemned as flawed by the opposition, rights groups and the media.
Foreign observers including the European Union said it had failed to meet international standards.
Around a dozen state governors have already had their elections annulled because of irregularities and a string of other vote-related cases are still pending in the courts.
In December, the Supreme Court upheld the election of President Umaru Yar'Adua, dismissing an appeal by two opposition candidates.
But the ruling did acknowledge that there had been some problems.