From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: NIGERIA: SAVING TRANSITION PROGRAMME FROM DERAILMENT/REPEAT/
Originator: barnhart@gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 03:46:50 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: SAVING TRANSITION PROGRAMME FROM DERAILMENT/REPEAT/


an inter press service feature

by toye olori

lagos, oct 7 (ips) -- nigeria's transition programme to civilian
rule has hit the rocks with the military government announcing
late tuesday that it was suspending the controversial results of
party primaries pending investigations by the national electoral
commission (nec).

there has been uproar over allegations of the lavish use of
bribes by presidential candidates and intimidation during the
primaries especially within the left-of-centre social democratic
party (sdp).

the government's decision may overturn the apparent victory
of retired gen shehu yar'adua who was leading the pack of sdp
presidential contenders.

nec, the midwife of the transition to democracy process
has till tuesday to submit its findings to the government
which will be deliberated on by the armed forces ruling council
(afrc) at its meeting scheduled for oct. 15.

nine of the 12 presidential aspirants in the sdp -- along
with the national republican convention the two parties
sanctioned by the government -- boycotted the last stage of
the primaries held sept. 26 in protest at what they consider an
attempt to foist yar'adua on the party as its candidate.

there has been much talk of a conspiracy here to ''impose
retired army general shehu musa yar'adua on the country by all
fraudulent means'', according to mahmud waziri, chair of the
committee of protesting sdp presidential hopefulls.

the boycotters include olu falae, a previous finance minister
who was trailing in second place in the primaries, and lateef
jakande, former governor of lagos state, whose defeat in lagos,
western nigeria, by yar'adua sparked the latest round of
allegations over rigging.

but inspite of the furore and withdrawals, the primaries in
zone three comprising ten states were held on schedule on sep.
26 since three aspirants including yar'adua were still in the
race.

yar'adua at the end of the excercise had the required one
third of the votes cast in 20 out of the 30 states and was
declared the candidate for the sdp by the party's election
committee. (more/ips)


nigeria: saving (2)

''i don't believe that yar'adua used money to influence
anybody to vote for him. during his tenure as the second in
command during olusegun obasanjo's regime (1975 - 1979), those
he helped spent their money to campaign for him,'' a member of
the sdp presidential aspirants' screening committee who wants to
remain anonymous told ips.

a political analyst who also declined to be named said
yar'adua used top politicians in the local areas to lobby which
most of the other aspirants did not.

''yar'adua openly supported the presidential bid of late
chief obafemi awolowo leader of the defunct unity party of
nigeria and as a gesture of reciprocacy, leaders of the
party and staunch supporters of ''awo'' openly campaigned for
yar'adua in oyo state where he defeated the yoruba
candidates,'' the analyst said.

awolowo was the towering leader of the upn, the
traditional party of the yoruba, one of the big three ethnic
groups based in western nigeria, who was repeatedly frustrated
in his bid for the presidency since independence in 1960.
yar'adua is from the northern state of katsina.

there have been wide-ranging calls on the government to
disqualify all aspirants found guilty of election malpractice.

''we are concerned at the way some aspirants squandered
money on the electorate to win votes, such persons can never
make good leaders. nigeria needs an upright and god-fearing
leader who will not plunge the country into more problems,''
the vocal christian association of nigeria has said.

administrators of the two parties have welcomed the decision
to suspend the result.

the national secretary of the sdp, alexis anielo said his
party would not react until the afrc make a definite
pronouncement on the issue adding that there was still time
to iron out anomalies before the presidential election scheduled
for dec. 5.

doyin okupe, spokesperson for the conservative nrc, said
''the third republic is too important to the evolution of a
political culture in the country to be allowed to start on a
shaky foundation''.

''with the afrc decision, at least we can start to do things
right in this country. we can not have a president that can
be associated with fraud or some illegality. it will
undermine the legitimacy of the president and his
administration,'' okupe said. (end/ips/to/oa/92)