Nigerian High Court Paves Way for Vote
By GILBERT DA COSTA
Associated Press Writer

April 10, 2003, 7:59 PM EDT

ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria's high court on Thursday paved the way for
elections this weekend, dismissing an opposition bid to postpone the
balloting. 

The ruling allows parliamentary elections on Saturday and a presidential
ballot a week later. The run-up to the vote has been fraught with
political violence in Africa's most populous nation, raising fears of
further bloodshed. 

Two opposition parties had asked judges for the delay, saying that the
national electoral commission failed to meet laws requiring rolls of
voters to be published 60 days before votes are cast. 

The voters' register was finally published last week. 

President Olusegun Obasanjo -- a former military junta leader -- is
seeking a second term against 19 opponents in what election organizers
hope will be Nigeria's first-ever successful civilian-run ballot.
Military coups scuttled two previous attempts since independence in 1960
to transfer power between civilian governments. 

Meanwhile, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report
Thursday raising fears of an explosion of bloodshed after weeks of
ethnic and political bloodletting in six of Nigeria's 36 states,
including the oil-rich Delta region. 

On Tuesday, a senior official of the largest opposition group led by
former junta ruler Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was shot dead in northern
Nigeria. And on Wednesday, two people were injured by gunfire as
partisan groups battled in the southwest. 

More than 10,000 people have died in political, ethnic and religious
violence since Obasanjo's election in 1999 ended more than 15 years of
brutal military rule. 
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press

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