NG News: Threatened Nigerian opposition boycott crumbles, vote to go ahead on Saturday
By BASHIR ADIGUN
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - Nigeria's two main opposition
parties withdrew threats to boycott presidential elections
on Thursday, setting the stage for a weekend vote meant to
boost civilian rule in Africa's most-populous nation.
The All Nigeria People's Party led by presidential
candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was the first among 18
opposition parties to break ranks after threatening in a
joint statement earlier this week to boycott unless the
government postponed Saturday's vote pending the creation
of a new electoral commission. The opposition said it was
worried the vote would be undermined by fraud.
But «we shall not boycott and we will participate
fully,» a party leader, Edwin Ume Ezeoke, told reporters
in the capital, Abuja, saying a boycott would only help the
governing party.
Vice President Atiku Abubakar's Action Congress called
Buhari's unilateral move a «stab in the back,» saying
unless the opposition acted together, any boycott would be
meaningless. Abubakar, who was only cleared to run by a
Supreme Court ruling days ago, would have been particularly
helped by a delay,
«We hereby call on all members of Action Congress and all
Nigerians to vote for our presidential candidate, Vice
President Atiku Abubakar, who will definitely contest
Saturday's presidential election,» the campaign said in a
statement.
Buhari's party said boycotting Saturday's vote would only
bolster the position of the ruling party, which the main
opposition groups accuse of rigging an April 14 vote for
state officers. The governing party was declared winner of
more than two-thirds of the 36 governors races.
The joint opposition statement also had demanded the April
14 results be tossed out. The government rejected all the
demands.
Saturday's vote is meant to set up the first transfer of
power between elected governments in Africa's most-populous
nation. The run-up to the vote has been chaotic and bloody.
At least 21 people died in political violence during the
April 14 vote.
Abubakar was ordered back on the ballot this week by the
Supreme Court. The electoral commission had disqualified
him based on corruption allegations, but bowed to the court
_ without explaining how his name would be added to the 61
million ballots with only days to go.
On Wednesday, Nigerian soldiers killed at least 25
suspected Islamic militants who had attacked a police
station a day earlier in the northern city of Kano. Kano
was calm on Thursday, with the battle site deserted.
The 1999 election of Obasanjo, a former military ruler,
ended decades of near-constant military rule and coups
d'etat that overturned periodic civilian administrations.
His 2003 re-election was marred by violence and accusations
of widespread fraud.
Obasanjo was barred from running again by constitutional
term limits. Umaru Yar'Adua, a member of Obasanjo's party,
is seen as the front-runner in Saturday's race. Abubakar,
who fell out with Obasanjo and joined the opposition after
opposing a failed bid to overturn term limits, is
considered another front-runner.
AI
