General Obasanjo's Party Wins Local Government Polls

By Remi Oyo and Toye Olori, IPS, 7 December 1998

LAGOS, Dec 7 (IPS) Lagos - Former head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo's party has taken a commanding lead in Nigeria's local government elections, boosting his chances in the 1999 Presidential polls.

In a statement made available to IPS on Monday, Obasanjo said the results had encouraged him to pursue his ambition for the nation's top job.

On my part, I am encouraged more than ever before by the local government elections to persevere on the path of seeking the mandate of our people and to serve Nigeria as the next elected president. There is no doubt that the going will even get tougher in the days ahead, but that is just what we need to get going, he said.

Results from Nigeria's 774 local governments declared Monday show that the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has secured a large majority in all parts of the country except the south-west, where Obasanjo comes from.

Obasanjo, who ruled Nigeria between 1976-1979, was the only military leader who handed over power voluntarily to a civilian government, headed by Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria.

The voting -- monitored by more than 2,000 foreign and local observers -- passed off peacefully except in the oil-rich Niger Delta where six people died when rival supporters clashed in a remote polling station.

In a nationwide television and radio broadcast before the polls on Friday, head of state General Abdulsalaam Abubakar warned against undermining Nigeria's democratisation programme. I would like to warn that our liberal disposition should not be mistaken for a lack of resolve to maintain law and order, he said.

He urged the electorates to vote in leaders who will address the challenges posed by the fall in global oil prices, which have affected Nigeria's oil export. We need to elect leaders who will be aware of these challenges so that they can begin to address the socio-economic problems of the country, Abubakar said.

He said Saturday's election would lay a solid foundation for the upcoming polls in the transition programme. Under the programme, state elections will take place on Jan 9, national assembly elections on Feb 22 and Presidential elections will follow on Feb 29. After which the military will hand over power to civilian government on May 29.

Only three parties -- the PDP, the Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the All People's Party (APP) -- have qualified under Saturday's polls to take part in the next elections as provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which demands that a party scores at least five percent of the votes cast in 24 of Nigeria's 36 states.

This is a litmus test, there are bound to be some mistakes but we have tried our best to put everything in place, it is now left to Nigerians to make it work, Abubakar said.

Despite the fanfare, Saturday's election had been boycotted by the Joint Action Committee on Nigeria (JACON), led by outspoken lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi. JACON is convinced that the transition has failed from inception and all elections under it are equally doomed to fail, Fawehinmi said in a statement made available to IPS over the weekend.

He said the decision to boycott the polls was based on a unanimous resolution made at a JACON meeting in July to reject Gen Abubakar's transition programme.

Let Abubakar terminate this dangerous ruse called transition as the consequences of the election under it may lead this country to disintegration, chaos, instability and catastrophe never before witnessed in the history of Nigeria, he warned.

JACON advocates the holding of a 'sovereign national conference' to be organised by a government of national unity before any elections.