Lagos — BARELY 24 hours from now, the nation's fledgling democracy will, once again, be put to test. By tomorrow, the presidential election tribunal will deliver judgment on the petitions by the Action Congress (AC) and All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidates, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and General Muhammadu Buhari respectively.

Already, there is tension in the land as to what the outcome of the tribunal's judgment would be. With the number of elections voided since the present government came on board, the situation becomes more precarious.

Among pundits, the situation is certainly dicey and will to a large extent shake the polity. When news filtered in that the presidential election petition had concluded plans to deliver the long awaited judgment, the premises of the tribunal at the Court of Appeal Abuja was besieged by supporters of the two parties.

Counsel to Buhari, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), and that of Atiku, Mr. Emeka Ngige (SAN) and Yar'Adua's counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), all expressed satisfaction with the development saying they were keeping their fingers crossed.

Last week, they had all adopted their written addresses in the midst of the strike by judiciary workers in the country.

The strike had initially affected the case as activities in the courts were crippled.

So, as the clock ticks away towards the judgment day, many are expectedly apprehensive on the possible outcome.

It will be recalled that the court closed hearing on the two petitions on February 5, 2008 and reserved judgment after all the parties had argued their respective cases.

Buhari, the ANPP flagbearer is insisting that the voter's register used for the election was so irregular that even photos of children featured in many documents.

He claimed that he had established beyond reasonable doubts that results in form EC8D(A)s and EC8E were arbitrarily assigned without any election of the base.

Among others, Buhari said he had shown through different documents that results were written in different days before the election and after the results had been announced.

In a similar vein, Buhari's colleague, Atiku Abubakar's position is that Umaru Yar'Adua who was returned as the president based on the election was not duly elected.

He had among others prayed the election petition tribunal to hold that:

- The said election was invalid for non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006, which its non-compliance had substantially affected the result of the election.

- And that the said election be invalidated or annulled by reason of widespread corrupt practices.

But counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN) had argued that Buhari's petition could not stand because the ANPP and his running mate, Chief Edwin Ume-Ezeoke had withdrawn from the petition.

Agagu argued that the petition was filed in respect of only four states out of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Among others, he argued that the witnesses in the petition were mainly from Imo state.

So, as the tribunal rules tomorrow, many are worried over the implication.

Analysts argue that if Yar'Adua's election is upturned, it is going to have far reaching implications on the polity.

Speculations are rife that the former Katsina state governor may not re-contest in the event of the nullification of his election.

If such rumour should be taken seriously, the implication is that it will be like starting from square one.

Contestants may begin to emerge in several quarters to replace him as the flagbearer of the PDP.

As usual with electons in Nigeria, what it means is that activities are likely to be grounded to a halt until the exercise is concluded.

The fear is that such a development will disrupt the programme of the government as the president, if he should recontest, will be more pre-occupied with efforts to win the re-election.

Analysts are also worried that the process of organising a fresh election will lead to unnecessary waste of the tax payers money.

A major issue which has been a subject of discourse is the fact that it is the same INEC which superintended the last election that is still in place.

The question is - what guarantees that the organization of a fresh election will be different from the ones before it.

Many reason that until Nigerian politicians change their attitude to elections, nothing different may come out of a fresh exercise.

In the estimation of pundits, Yar'Adua even has a clearer chance of sweeping the poll now than that of last year.

The reasons are obvious. So far, the public perception is that the former governor has done well to pilot the affairs of the state.

Since the emergence of Yar' Adua in last April's election, the opposition had been in disarray with many of its members joining the Government of National Unity (GNU) established by the present government.

Among the people, the feeling is that the opposition anchored by the duo of Buhari and Atiku may have known that beating Yar' Adua in a fresh election may be difficult, if not impossible but just want to prove a point.

According to feelers, all efforts by power brokers in the northern zone to convince them to soft pedal on the petition failed, hence, the reason for continuing with the case to this point.

For some people, the petition will further strengthen the nation's democracy irrespective of who is affected. The argument is that what is good for the geese is also good for the gander.

People in this school of thought do not mind the possible disruption that a nullification may cause provided that justice is maintained.

The situation on ground was compounded by the nullification of the election of the senate president, David Mark.

The calculation was that in the event of a nullification, the senate president will hold fort until a fresh election is held.

But with what has happened to his own election, the situation becomes more precarious.

Many are worried over the implication of nullifying the elections of president Yar' Adua and the senate president within a week.

At the weekend, the Benue State election petition tribunal nullified David Mark's election.

The petition was filed by the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate, Alhaji Usman Abubakar who contested the April 21, 2007 election into Benue South Senatorial District against the senate president.

The tribunal had earlier voided the elections of senators George Akume and Joseph Akaargerger, both of whom like Mark, were elected on the platform of the PDP.

Analysts argue that the development has further proved people's belief that the last election was characterised by a lot of manipulations and fraud.

Many are worried that more elections would be voided by the time all the Tribunals conclude their assignment.

So, with the countdown to the all important judgement, the question on the lips of analysts is - will Yar' Adua's election go the way of others including that of the senate president.

The pendulum which continues to swing will tomorrow lay the uncertainty to rest.

But some are not worried considering the fact that he still has an option of Appeal which is another strategy of buying time.

However, for critics, it is too early to predict the outcome as only the tribunal can do that.

But in a situation like this, many would prefer to sit on the fence as the tide would go either way.