The electoral commission on Thursday barred Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar from the upcoming presidential elections, omitting his name from the roster of two dozen approved candidates vying to lead Africa's most-populous nation. Abubakar's camp said it would contest the ruling in court.
The electoral commission gave no reason for the exclusion of Abubakar, who is involved in a public feud with the president and is one of three front-runners in the race, but listed constitutional prohibitions on candidates indicted for crimes before a court or executive panel.
A panel arranged by President Olusegun Obasanjo's executive branch earlier concluded that Abubakar had embezzled state funds.
Abubakar's camp called the panel unconstitutional and denied the allegations, saying they stemmed from a public spat between Abubakar and his boss, who's now an ardent political foe.
Abubakar's spokesman, Garba Shehu, said his campaign would soon launch a court appeal against the decision by the electoral commission.
"The vice president is a law-and-order candidate who believes in the due process of the law," Shehu said.
With only weeks left before the April 21 elections, Thursday's decision appeared to set up an endgame to the long-running battle between the Abubakar and Obasanjo's camps, which split last year after Abubakar came out against a drive to amend the Constitution and allow Obasanjo a third elected term.
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