Nigeria's Supreme Court ruled that the vice president who had fallen out with the president and his powerful party should be allowed to run for president, throwing the race into disarray only days before the vote.
As the governing party rolled up huge leads in weekend governor and state legislative elections marred by vote rigging and violence, Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar said he expected to be on the ballot on Saturday in a vote setting up Nigeria's first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power.
"I have always said I will run," he told reporters after Monday's ruling. The electoral commission "had always said they are prepared to include my name any time they receive the judgment of the Supreme Court."
Judge Umaru Katsina Alu, reading a unanimous judgment from the seven-judge panel, struck down an earlier appeals court decision that said the electoral commission had the right to vet and disqualify candidates from the race. The commission had barred Abubakar based on findings by an executive panel established by President Olusegun Obasanjo that found Abubakar stole government funds. Abubakar denies the fraud allegations.
While one case is still pending related to Abubakar's disqualification in a lower court, the Supreme Court decision would appear to clear Abubakar to join the race.
Electoral officials were not immediately available for comment on Monday. They have said the 61 million ballots have already been printed, but that unspecified provisions had been made in case Abubakar should rejoin the field.
Abubakar has been clashing with Obasanjo since he helped quash a drive last year by the president's supporters to amend the Constitution and allow a third elected term for Obasanjo, a former military ruler whose 1999 election ended decades of near-constant military rule and decades of coups d'etat that overturned periodic civilian administrations.
The vice president bolted from Obasanjo's powerful party to run as an opposition candidate in a race in which Umaru Yar'Adua, a member of Obasanjo's party, is seen as the frontrunner.
Saturday's election should set up the country's first handover of power between elected civilians since its independence from Britain in 1960. But Nigeria's democratic experiment could be imperiled if its 62 million voters see the balloting as tainted.
Obasanjo's 2003 re-election was marred by violence and accusations of widespread rigging. All previous elections were scuttled by military coups or annulments.
In April 14 elections for state governors and legislators, Obasanjo's party appeared to take a commanding lead on Monday, winning 21 of 36 governorships, preliminary results showed, with six states going to opposition parties and results from another seven left to be reported. Abubakar's Action Congress won the governorship in Lagos state.
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