From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: NIGERIA: RETURN TO CIVILIAN RULE THREATENED
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 01:20:34 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: NIGERIA: RETURN TO CIVILIAN RULE THREATENED BY VOTE FRAUD


lagos, sep 24 (ips/toye olori) -- nigeria's fragile transition
to democracy programme is in deep trouble.

after the latest flawed attempt saturday by the two
registered parties to conduct rigging-free presidential
primaries, doubts are being expressed here whether the december
presidential elections and inauguration of a civilian government
by january will take place.

''you must not be too optimistic to think that there will be
a presidential election dec. 5 with all the fraud going on in
the presidential primaries of the two political parties'', a
former presidential aspirant told ips.

the politician who declined to be named added: ''what
we have now is no different from what we had in previous
elections, but money had played a greater role this time around.
may the richest candidate win if eventually the election
holds''.

the military government of president ibrahim babangida has
been determined to create a new civilian political culture,
eliminating graft.

this west african country has been ruled by civilian
administrations -- charecterised by corruption and mismanagement
-- for only 10 out of its 32 years of independence.

saturday's social democratic party (sdp) primary in lagos
state, following the even more blatantly rigged poll in august,
proves that the government may have to go back to the drawing
board.

''lagos has been purchased'', protested lateef jakande, the
popular former civilian governor of this western nigerian state,
when the results apparently handed victory to his rival maj-gen
shehu musa yar'adua from the northern state of katsina.

in response to the conduct of the primaries, 10 out of the
12 sdp presidential contestants announced wednesday their
withdrawal from the third round of the poll scheduled for
saturday.

if the 10 hold firm, that leaves the influential yar'adua,
a senior member of the 1976-79 military regime of gen olusegun
obasanjo, and abel ubeku as the remaining candidates for the
left-of-centre sdp. (more/ips)


nigeria: return (2)

the aggrieved contestants, after meeting with the national
election commission (nec), said in a communique late wednesday,
''the current exercise of the presidential primaries is a farce
and cannot produce the desired choice of the nigerian people.

''there is a conspiracy to impose maj-gen shehu musa yar'adua
on the country by all fraudulent means. we will not be part of
that conspiracy''.

pulling out of the third round, they are demanding the
cancellation of the primaries so far in which yar' adua has
a commanding lead, and the holding of polls in all 30
states on a single day supervised by an independent electoral
board.

nec chair, humphrey nwosu, declined a similar monitoring
request after the aug. 1 primaries, concerned that the
credibility of his organisation would be tarnished by the
political mud-slinging the transition process has degenerated
into.

the 10 also called for the dissolution of the sdp's
national executive committee. its chair, ambassador baba
kingibe, was closely allied to yar'adua, previously
leading a political association the general funded.

the national executive committee has however ratified the
results of saturday's 10-state primaries.

olufemi olutoye, another retired general and chair of the
sdp's electoral board, confirmed that complaints had been
received on the conduct of the primaries but noted that there
was little the board could do in the absence of concrete proof
of fraud.

however, there have been numerous accounts of blatant
vote-buying. on saturday, riot police had to step in and
disperse incenced jakande supporters when the vote tally
suggested yar'adua was winning.

not apparently willing to acknowledge the gravity of
the situation, kingibe said: ''this is indeed a most unfortunate
development because we have been meeting over the last three
years to ensure the success of the sdp... indeed, i am satisfied
that everything is proceeding towards such a victory come
dec. 5''.

however, one of the sdp candidates to withdraw,
multi-millionaire arthur nzeribe, said if the primaries were not
cancelled and yar'adua won, it would destroy the party.

but the sdp is not alone in its problems. there have been
calls within the national republican convention (nrc) for the
quashing of results of their primaries in certain wards,
although no major protest has emerged within the party.

both the sdp and nrc were artificially created by the
government. (end/ips/to/oa/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african