afrol News, 25 February - The former Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar fears that "unfolding tragedy in Kenya and the violence that neighbouring country could well repeat itself" if Nigeria's political leaders fail to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on the validity of the 2007 presidential elections results on Tuesday.

Atiku Abubakar, the Vice President of Nigeria from 1999-2007, was a Presidential candidate of the Action Congress in widely believed fraudulent election in April 2007.

"Nigeria will soon confront one of the most difficult challenges that any emerging democracy must face, whether the rule of law as set by the courts will prevail," Abubakar said in a statement.

"The Nigerian Supreme Court will soon decide if it will nullify last year's presidential elections on fraud charges. How the government reacts could well determine the future of the country. Nigeria is a sovereign nation, but the United States must urge the current leaders to abide by the Supreme Court's ruling. If not, the unfolding tragedy in Kenya and the violence in that neighboring country could well repeat itself."

Dispute over presidential polls results on 27 December last year turned into ethnic cleansing, resulting to the killing of more than 1,000 and displacement of over 600,000 in Kenya. The East African country is still leaking the wounds of the bloody political unrests.

But according to Abubakar, the "election fraud last April in Nigeria was much worse than Kenya’s" because the "incumbent President Obasanjo manipulated every stage of the process."

He had recounted his personal beef with Obasanjo after he had blocked the former President's tricks to change the constitution so as to run for a third term in office. He said the outgoing leader "used every instrument at his command to try to soil my reputation and prevent me from running so as to leave a clear path for him to change the constitution and allow himself a third term."

It was only on the eve of the election that the Supreme Court ordered the election commission to put Abubakar's name on the ballot.

"By then, it was too late for my party to organize to win the election, but Obasanjo took no chances," he said, accusing Obasanjo of instructing the Chair of the Election Commission, Maurice Iwu, a pharmacist, "to concoct the election results like a drug prescription."

He said unlike their Kenyan counterparts, Nigerian opposition leaders encouraged people to stay calm and wait for the court's outcome.

Already, the courts have nullified the results of some state elections.

"It is imperative that all of us have confidence that the court will make the right decision, and I certainly have decided to place my trust there. If the Justices declare the election valid, I will accept the result. If they annul the election, the court and our country will become a model for all of Africa, but we will need solidarity within Nigeria and help from the world to turn the promise of such a decision into a real democracy."

Atiku fears Nigerians will lose their patience should elections be held under Iwu and the same election law.

Should the Appeals Court declares the presidential election invalid, Atiku said he will still ask his supporters to remain calm and invite other presidential contenders to seek support from world leaders to help Nigeria fashion a new election commission and election law to prepare the country to first genuinely free and fair elections.

"Kenya has disillusioned many democrats in Africa. Our hope is that Nigeria's Supreme Court will send a message to all Africans that democracy is not only possible, it is essential to peace and ethnic coexistence. Incumbents will no longer be permitted to manipulate the electoral process. Election commissions must be genuinely autonomous, impartial, and professional."

He pledge to do all that he can to assure that democracy and rule of law return to Nigeria peacefully, hoping that the "world will stand with us and give Africans a reason again for hope."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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