NIGERIA: Nigeria's ruling and oppostion parties choose presidential candidates as election fever mounts

Election preparations are underway this week in Nigeria, with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) due to hold preliminary elections tomorrow (December 16)to select a presidential candidate for the 2007 general election. The party Secretariat was covered in posters of hopeful candidates as supporters streamed into the capital Abuja. Their campaigning spilled out onto the city's streets with each one advocating for their candidate of choice. Speaking to Reuters the PDP's deputy National leader for Nigeria's southern region, John Imoke, said he was optimistic that the 2007 election would be free of the violence and vote-rigging that has plagued past elections in Nigeria. "We expect free and fair election and a very superior election for that matter. (Differently) from the other elections we have had so far everything went smoothly. If there's going to a problem it would have started from the scratch but now you can see that everything is working on well so there will be no problems." he assessed. The Deputy national PDP leader John Imoke, was confident his party would come out tops during next year's elections. "The party is growing from strength to strength, you can see there is no other party that can be compared to PDP, I believe it's PDP (first)and other parties." he added Over 30 aspirants showed interest for the preliminary PDP election but at the end of the screening carried out by the party, only 20 candidates were cleared for the election. Some prominent candidates have withdrawn from the election citing personal reasons. Among them is former military president Ibrahim Babaginda. The PDP has ruled Nigeria since 1999, after its presidential candidate Olesegun Obasanjo won the presidential election through the ballot box. The voting returned the country to democracy after three decades of almost continuous army dictatorship. The party is widely seen as the best platform for anyone seeking to mount a serious bid for the presidency. Nigeria's last elections held in 2003, were marred by widespread cheating and politically motivated violence, according to the U.S. State Department. President Olusegun Obasanjo is however barred by the constitution from seeking a third term of office. Next years polls should mark Nigeria's first democratic transition from one president to another. The 2007 polls are hotly contested because the constitution also bars state governors from seeking a third term and many of them are at the end of their second terms. Intense power struggles are taking place at every level. The PDP has already held primaries in some regions to choose candidates for other offices like state governors and members of state. In several states fighting between supporters of rival candidates broke out. There were rigging allegations and in some places the activities had to be cancelled. The results of tomorrow's (December 16) party election are expected on Sunday (December 17).

ITN Source | December 16, 2006

Tags:. .News Archive. .according. .serious. .screening. .marred