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afrol News, 6 January - President Olusegun Obasanjo is by no means uncontroversial in Nigerian politics and even within his own People's Democratic Party (PDP). Still, Nigeria's first civilian President after 15 years of military dictatorship had no problem getting nominated the PDP's candidate to the 19 April presidential poll. Mr Obasanjo won a sweeping victory at the ruling party's nomination vote. The incumbent President achieved 2642 votes, against the 611 votes registered for his main challenger, former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme. 65-year-old President Obasanjo will therefore represent the PDP when he goes for a second term at the April elections. Mr Obasanjo also presented his Vice President candidate for the next term; Atiku Abubakar. The President, who has not been blessed with manifestations of support lately, expressed his great pleasure with the nomination. "The success of the primaries has confirmed the resilience of the democratic principles in PDP," he told the press in Abuja. "The victory we have here today is not victory for the Obasanjo and Atiku ticket. It's not defeat for anybody, it is victory for the PDP," Mr Obasanjo added. While Mr Obasanjo's victory at the PDP convention in Abuja this weekend was clear, the dissent within the party was not to be overheard. During his three-and-a-half years heading the Nigerian federation, President Obasanjo has alienated significant parts of the electorate and of the PDP - as would anyone in his position, supporters however hold. Mr Obasanjo's civilian government principally has blessed Nigerians with a marked improvement of the human rights situation, especially when it comes to freedom of expression and freedom from torture. He has however not been able to solve most of the populous country's main problems; widespread corruption, ethnic violence, high criminality rates and poor economic performance. This has made President Obasanjo a disputed leader. Support to his person has mainly been withdrawn from the Muslim north of Nigeria, which traditionally has dominated the federal leadership. President Obasanjo, himself a Christian southerner, has tried to keep a low profile in the country's growing north-south split, something that has caused (mainly southern) critiques of passivity. His low-scale interventions in state affairs - especially against the most harmful effects of the North's Shari'a law code - again have caused loud protests from the North. Protest against the President even spread to the PDP. In August 2002, a motion advising the President to "resign honourably within two weeks," was even backed by several members of Obasanjo's PDP in Parliament's lower House of Representatives. Since this crisis in his presidency, Mr Obasanjo however has been able to regain some confidence. At this point, President Obasanjo is the clear favourite to the April elections, mostly due to the lack of a united opposition to him. The candidates are many, and the only serious threat to his candidacy would be the finding of a uniting candidate from the North. Given the demographic majority of southern Nigeria, a uniting northern candidate however would mean a greater threat to Nigerian unity than to President Obasanjo's candidacy. The strong support of the ruling party goes a long way in securing Mr Obasanjo's chances of being re-elected in April. While in 1999, he was the first Nigerian President to be elected lacking support from his immediate constituency and receiving votes from all over the country; this seems less probably in the upcoming poll. By Rainer Chr. Hennig Sources: Based on Nigerian govt,
press reports and afrol archives
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