(Repeats with no changes to text) By Estelle Shirbon ABUJA, April 26 (Reuters) - Nigeria's president-elect, Umaru Yar'Adua, intends to tackle violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta by initiating dialogue with militants when he assumes office after disputed elections, he told Reuters on Thursday. Yar'Adua said he would get to work immediately on solving the crisis in the lawless delta in southern Nigeria, where attacks on the oil industry have shut down a fifth of the nation's oil exports which are its economic lifeline. "You can expect a clear plan to be developed for the solution of the problem of the Niger Delta," Yar'Adua said in response to a question on what he would do in his first 100 days as president of the world's eighth-biggest oil exporter. Yar'Adua is from northern Nigeria but his vice-president will be Goodluck Jonathan, currently governor of oil-producing Bayelsa State in the delta and the first person from the impoverished region to rise to such a high office. "The vice-president is going to be very active in seeking solutions to the problems of the Niger Delta, in particular the activities of the militants," Yar'Adua said, adding that Jonathan would help the government build trust in the region. Armed groups in the delta complain of decades of neglect by corrupt governments that derive their wealth from oil but have done nothing for the region that provides it. They demand local control of oil wealth. "We are going to (have a) dialogue with them ... and we will find solutions within the laws of this country," Yar'Adua said. FLAWED ELECTIONS He dismissed concerns that his government would lack legitimacy because of reports of widespread vote-rigging during the poll that gave him his mandate to lead Africa's most populous country. European observers said the elections were not credible, the U.S. State Department said they were deeply flawed, local observers called them a "charade" and the opposition are demanding a re-run. "The authority and the legitimacy (of my government) arise from the constitution," Yar'Adua said. "Once the election has been declared the result of that election is valid and legal unless it is invalidated by a court of law ... We expect all Nigerians to respect that and the international community to respect that," he said. Nigeria is still rated one of the most corrupt nations in the world by independent watchdog Transparency International despite a much-hyped "war on corruption" under outgoing President Olusegun Obasanjo. Many Nigerians have been sceptical of Obasanjo's efforts, which they say were targeted at his opponents while leaving his allies unscathed. Yar'Adua pledged that under his administration, no one would be safe from anti-corruption investigators. "You cannot say there are sacred cows in Nigerian politics. This is a position we are trying to move forward," he said. Yar'Adua, who has been governor of remote northern Katsina State for eight years, was almost unknown in national politics until Obasanjo backed him as the ruling party candidate in primaries in December. Critics say Obasanjo means to use Yar'Adua as his puppet but both men deny this.
