20110110
reuters

ABUJA (Reuters) - A Nigerian court on Monday threw out a suit brought by three members of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to try to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting primaries on Thursday.

"The originating summons is hereby dismissed because it contains no clear course of action ... The candidates can only approach the courts after the primaries," Justice Ishaq Bello told the court in the capital Abuja.

The three PDP members challenged Jonathan's right to contest on the grounds that his candidacy would break an agreement in the party that power should rotate between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south every two terms.

Africa's most populous nation is due to hold presidential, parliamentary and state governorship elections in April which are set to be the most fiercely contested since the end of military rule just over a decade ago.

As the incumbent, Jonathan is considered front-runner in the presidential race but his bid is controversial because of the "zoning agreement". He faces a tough challenge at the primaries from former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, a northerner.

The continent's top oil exporter wants to avoid a repeat of chaotic polls in 2007, so marred by intimidation and fraud that observers deemed them not credible. The resulting court battles lasted years, undermining the winner's ability to govern.

"With this judgement everything has ended. The course is now clear for President Jonathan to contest the PDP primaries," Jonathan's lawyer Alex Iziyon told reporters.

Analysts doubted the Abuja court would have been able to de-rail the primaries, because the country's constitution -- under which Jonathan has the right to contest -- would have taken precedence.

But the legal challenge raises the prospect of prolonged court battles after the elections take place.