Former vice president challenges Obasanjo

Former Nigerian vice president Alex Ekwueme on Thursday declared his intention to challenge President Olusegun Obasanjo for the ruling party’s ticket in next year’s general elections. Ekwueme, 70, told a news conference in Abuja that Obasanjo’s leadership style was divisive and he hoped to turn things around for Nigeria if he got the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nomination and went on to win the presidency. "For three and a half years of the present administration I have been troubled by the style of leadership, which has tended to divide rather than draw together and reconcile," he said. "I seek the presidency, therefore, to reconcile my countrymen with one another, to build new foundations for national unity in fellowship and peace." Ekwueme, an architect, was the number two in Nigeria during the civilian rule of President Shehu Shagari between 1979 and 1983. After the government was toppled by the military he was detained and charged for corruption. But he was released after a military tribunal acquitted him. During the rule of late dictator Gen. Sani Abacha in 1998, he led a group of 34 prominent Nigerians who challenged his moves to transform into a civilian president. After Abacha’s death the group was the nucleus of what became the PDP, with Ekwueme as the founding chairman. He was considered the frontrunner for the presidency in the 1999 elections until Obasanjo emerged to upstage him in the PDP primaries. Analysts expect him to offer a stronger challenge to the incumbent with the support of key powerbrokers from the country’s mainly Muslim north, who had backed Obasanjo but now feel disaffected by his rule.