Nigerian VP may join opposition
2006-12-20 14:22
Lagos - Nigerian vice-president Atiku Abubakar was poised on Wednesday to switch to an opposition party to contest elections next year after President Olusegun Obasanjo blocked him from running on the ruling party ticket.
Insiders said Abubakar's move to Action Congress (AC) might be used by Obasanjo to declare the vice-president's position vacant, triggering a constitutional crisis ahead of the landmark poll in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer.
Abubakar's spokesperson Garba Shehu said: "Atiku will take the ticket for AC."
Obasanjo must step down after elections in April, which should mark the first handover of power from one elected president to another since independence from Britain in 1960.
Obasanjo may seek court ruling
Abubakar's defection to the newly created AC followed mounting hostility between him and Obasanjo, with both men accusing each other of looting public funds.
A senior member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) said there was a risk Obasanjo would declare his seat vacant.
The official said: "The president could declare the vice-president's position vacant, but that would be another sign of lawlessness", adding that due process required that Obasanjo seek a court ruling on the issue before taking any action.
The PDP member said: "The president has the use of the police, so he could give Atiku seven days to leave and he could implement it."
Shehu said any such declaration would be unconstitutional.
He said: "If some people want to act outside the law that would be a coup d'etat. It means someone has overthrown the constitution. We don't have police or army so we can't fight back, but we will go to the courts."
Obasanjo wants to run by remote control
Obasanjo's pick to lead the PDP into elections, little-known Katsina state governor Umaru Yar'Adua, won the ticket at the party's primaries during the weekend.
The party also amended the PDP constitution to make Obasanjo chairperson after he stepped down with wide-ranging powers over party policy, finances and membership.
Critics said Obasanjo chose Yar'Adua, a reclusive former teacher with a kidney condition, because he wanted to run the next government by remote control and ensure protection from prosecution in the wake of the sleaze allegations made by his deputy.
Parliamentarians had begun to discuss the possibility of impeaching both Obasanjo and Abubakar over mutual accusations of looting the Petroleum Technology Development Fund.
But, there had been no motion passed in either house. The national assembly went into recess this week and didn't resume sitting until January 16.
Last week, AC signed an alliance with the main opposition All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) under which the two parties agreed to field a single presidential candidate for the elections.
Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari won the ANPP ticket on Monday.