NIGERIA: Reclusive governor Umaru Yar'Adua wins Nigeria ruling party ticket, selects southerner from Niger Delta as running mate

Nigeria's ruling party on Sunday (December 17) chose a reclusive Muslim state governor, Umaru Yar'Adua, to be its candidate to succeed Olusegun Obasanjo as president of Africa's most populous nation in elections next year. Yar'Adua, the 55-year-old governor of Katsina state, beat 11 other contestants for the People's Democratic Party (PDP) ticket to run in the April vote which should mark the first fully democratic transition in Nigerian history. "Yar'Adua is the elected presidential candidate and flagbearer of the People's Democratic Party in the forthcoming general elections," said a party official after a lengthy vote which began on Saturday and ended at dawn on Sunday. Just hours later, Yar'Adua announced that Goodluck Jonathan, governor of Bayelsa state in the oil-producing Niger Delta, would be his running mate. The choice of Jonathan, an ethnic Ijaw, could be seen as an attempt to address a rising wave of militancy -- some of it linked to the 2007 election -- in the vast southern wetlands, home to the oil and gas resources of the OPEC member nation. Rochas Okorocha, a businessman and former adviser to Obasanjo, came a distant second to Yar'Adua. The atmosphere in the Eagle Square parade ground in the capital Abuja was glum and most delegates left immediately after casting their vote, not waiting to hear the results or Yar'Adua's victory speech. There was almost no applause when the result was announced. Yar'Adua's candidacy rests almost exclusively on the support of Obasanjo. He is little known even among the political elite having rarely left his remote northern state in seven years as governor. Obasanjo persuaded influential state governors to back the former teacher, who suffers from a chronic kidney condition, with a mixture of inducements and threats of investigation by anti-corruption officials, analysts said. Yar"Adua focused on the economy and an anti-corruption campaign begun by Obasanjo in his acceptance speech. "Economic reforms will be my main focus and I have also resolved to continue the fight against corruption in our society," he said. Obasanjo's election in 1999 marked a return to democracy after three decades of almost continuous army rule, and next year's poll should mark the first handover from one elected president to another since independence from Britain in 1960. Obasanjo has said any successor must deepen his economic reforms, but critics say the former military ruler wants to install a puppet to protect himself from possible prosecution when he loses presidential immunity. Just before voting began on Saturday, the PDP changed its constitution to allow Obasanjo to become the "conscience of the party" as its chairman after he steps down in May, a position which will control party funds and membership. Yar'Adua comes from a prominent political family. His elder brother Shehu was the second in command during Obasanjo's first government as military ruler in the 1970s. With deep pockets, tight control over security forces and an unrivalled nationwide network, the PDP is the party to beat. But the opposition is benefiting from disaffection in the PDP, which has been fuelled by a split between Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Many PDP members have also defected to the opposition in the wake of primaries at the state and local levels where the party imposed many unpopular candidates. Two main opposition parties, All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) and Action Congress (AC), signed an alliance this week and analysts expect former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari to become their candidate. They hold their presidential primaries on Sunday and Monday respectively and the battle for control of Nigeria's 36 states -- key to winning the presidency -- will begin.

ITN Source | December 19, 2006

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