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Nigeria: The war of succession is open

By on May 10, 2010
In the most populous country of Africa, Nigeria, split between a mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south, there is an unwritten rule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) saying that the Presidency shifts every eight years (two terms) from one region to another. Yar’Adua was put in power in 2007 and he was from the north, then the region is theoretically entitled to a second term. Within the PDP in power, potential candidates for the presidency in 2011 are numerous.

Ibrahim Babangida, former President from 1985 to 1993, announced since the beginning of April that he was seeking his nomination as the head of the PDP. He is native of the North and refers to his records as a former president to build up good credits, even if this function was reached after a military coup.
The «greedy” politician Olusegun Obasanjo would like to see the power back to his native South. He was twice president of Nigeria. He cannot run for the presidency, but will do his utmost to see Goodluck Jonathan in office. That was Obasanjo himself who had chosen Goodluck to team up with Umaru Yar’Adua, as a vice president.
Ibrahim Babangida and Goodluck Jonathan will certainly compete with a third actor: Atiku Abubakar, from the North also. Former Vice President with Obasanjo, he left the opposition at the end of April to join the PDP. The timing of this new transhumance has nothing to do with chance, but only with political tempo-game, after the first rumors about Yar’Adua’s health status began to circulate…

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