NIGERIA: Some Nigerians react with apathy to calls for protests against flawed elections which gave victory to ruling party

Record ID: 234681

  • Title: NIGERIA: Some Nigerians react with apathy to calls for protests against flawed elections which gave victory to ruling party
  • Date: 25th April 2007
  • Summary: NEWSPAPERS ARRANGED ALONG SIDEWALK NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING 'YAR'ADUA WINS TO SUCCEED OBASANJO' PEOPLE READING HEADLINES AT THE NEWSPAPER STAND MAN READING NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER HEADLINE READING 'YAR'ADUA FLOORS BUHARI, ATIKU, 22 OTHERS'
  • Embargoed: 10th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAB8JJV1E6FEFS5JDIVJS5LVRUP
  • Story Text: Nigerians on Tuesday (April 24) did not heed an opposition call for mass protests against flawed elections that gave a landslide victory to the ruling party, President Olusegun Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party (PDP).
    Umaru Yar'Adua, who emerged as the PDP presidential candidate almost entirely on the strength of Obasanjo's backing, was declared the winner of Saturday's (April 21) elections on Monday (April 23).
    Some residents of Abuja have rejected an opposition call for protests against the rigged poll, citing fear and apathy.
    Abuja resident Edwin Okoro said: "We have no choice but to obey the government, any attempt to protest and they may gun you down, because this is not the first time, you could see what happened in the first election. Those that protested, some of them were killed, some of them were gunned down, so we don't have that urge of protesting again. We are only looking for God, for whatever protection He is going to give us."
    Other residents of Abuja are angry at the results. Abuja resident, James Danjuma said: "You know, the way I see this election is that we have robbed already. My opinion is that the election should be cancelled immediately. There should be another election so that we'll have a genuine leader."
    There is a huge gap of 18 million votes between Yar'Adua and opposition leader Muhammadu Buhari.
    Rights groups slammed the vote as a result of which Umaru Yar'Adua was declared president as a "charade". They called for the poll result to be cancelled and for new elections to be held.
    Buhari has rejected the results and called for the National Assembly to impeach Obasanjo. Legislators say that is impossible in the time remaining.
    The other main opposition loser, Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has said the result "will not stand", but has not explained exactly what that meant.
    European Union observers said the vote was not credible, and the United States said it was flawed.
    The chaotic elections has dented the image of Obasanjo, the outgoing Nigerian president, a 70-year-old retired general once hailed as a hero of democracy after he became the first Nigerian army ruler to hand over to an elected head of state in 1979.
    By law Obasanjo must hand over power on May 29, marking the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigerian history.
    But international observers and opposition politicians said Saturday's vote for the first handover of power from one civilian leader to another in Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer has been tarred with manipulation of the polls through violence and vote rigging.
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