By Camillus Eboh ABUJA, May 23 (Reuters) - The two main opposition candidates in Nigeria's flawed presidential elections last month have filed petitions seeking the cancellation of the result just before the Wednesday deadline for legal challenges. The election for a new president and federal lawmakers on April 21 and state governors and legislators a week before, were labelled "not credible" by international observers. The historic polls were billed as the first transition from one civilian government to another in Africa's top oil producer, but were instead condemned as a "charade" by domestic observers. Muhammadu Buhari of the All Nigerian People's Party and Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress said in separate petitions that the ballot was invalid because the electoral body did not comply with the relevant laws. "The elections should be nullified and polls re-conducted with those that are qualified," Buhari said in his petition. He added that President-elect Umaru Yar'Adua was not qualified to contest the election because he had been indicted by a panel of inquiry. Under the Nigerian constitution designed by the military in 1999, people indicted by a tribunal or an administrative panel are barred from contesting elections. The petitions were filed at the Court of Appeal, which also serves as the presidential election tribunal, on Tuesday just before the deadline because the Independent National Electoral Commission was slow in producing materials to support its announcement of a crushing victory for the ruling People's Democratic Party. The materials will be used by the opposition candidates to support their petitions. A group of 48 Nobel laureates, including 1986 literature prize winner Wole Soyinka, has also called for the annulment of the result and for new elections within 18 months. VIOLENT CONFLICT "We are concerned that the new government's lack of legitimacy increases prospects for violent conflict with serious consequences for Nigeria and the region," the group said in a statement. But analysts say the opposition stand little chance of getting the presidential election result overturned because evidence of vote rigging is hard to obtain and the declared margin of victory is so wide. Preparations for Yar'Adua's inauguration on May 29 were under way with military bands rehearsing at Eagle Square parade ground for the event, which will be the high-point of a week-long festival in the capital. Officials said the inauguration will gulp 820 million naira ($6.4 million), though the local media put the figures much higher at 13 billion naira. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, once feted by the West as one of a new breed of progressive African leaders but now criticised as an autocrat, will give a speech in Abuja on the eve of the inauguration, the programme of events indicates. Calls for mass protests against the election result, which saw Yar'Adua win with almost four times the votes of his nearest rival, have met with a muted response so far. The Nigeria Labour Congress, an umbrella body of workers' unions, has called for a sit-at-home strike on May 28-29. The Nigerian Bar Association asked lawyers to boycott court duties last Friday. (Additional reporting by Tom Ashby in Abuja and Tume Ahemba in Lagos)
