By Shuaibu Mohammed

JOS, Nigeria, March 8 (Reuters) - A Nigerian court reinstated a central state governor on Thursday nearly five months after he was impeached over allegations of corruption.

Joshua Dariye is the third governor to be reinstated by the courts in the last four months in a sign the judiciary is not comfortable with a series of impeachments that swept across Nigeria, raising tensions ahead of landmark polls in April.

Rights campaigners had accused Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party of masterminding the ousting of governors opposed to President Olusegun Obasanjo to open the way for the president's supporters at next month's polls.

Dariye was impeached at an unannounced dawn sitting by six of the 24-member central Plateau state House of Assembly, which was not attended by the press or members of the public.

Court of Appeal judge Zainab Adamu Bulkachuwa said the six lawmakers did not meet the two-thirds majority stipulated by the constitution and did not follow due process.

"I nullify the process of Dariye's impeachment," Bulkachuwa ruled.

Counsel to the state said the government would appeal the case at the Supreme Court, Nigeria's apex court.

Dariye, who is a fugitive from justice in Britain having jumped bail for suspected money-laundering, was declared wanted for alleged corruption by Nigeria's anti-graft watchdog, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission after his removal on Nov. 13, 2006.

There was jubilation in Jos, the state capital, but it was unclear if Dariye, who has been in hiding since the eve of his impeachment, will reclaim his post.

The judgment is the second by the Court of Appeal since a Supreme Court ruling in December reinstating a southwestern state governor who was removed in similar circumstances.

Last month, the Enugu Division of Nigeria's second highest court reinstated the governor of the southeastern state of Anambra after declaring his removal by a faction of the state assembly unconstitutional.

The ruling comes amidst increasing political uncertainty in Africa's top oil producer and the continent's most populous country ahead of elections that should mark its first fully democratic transition from one civilian president to another.

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