PDP takes lead in Nigerian poll.

Media sources in Lagos told IRIN today (Monday) that preliminary results from Saturday’s local elections in Nigeria showed the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) headed by General Olusegun Obasanjo taking the lead in the polls except in the southwest. The PDP secured 304 local government council seats, the All People’s Party (APP) won 119 seats, and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) clinched 95 according to the provisional results. The Independent Electoral National Commission (INEC) announced it would not release final results until run-off elections had taken place in a few councils. The BBC said the PDP had a successful campaign of alliance building between Nigeria’s various ethnic groups and regions. It quoted the PDP publicity secretary, Gerry Garner, as saying that: “We are delighted Nigerians have voted for democracy and for the basic programme of the PDP.” A source told IRIN the PDP was made up of opponents of General Sani Abacha, the former military leader, and had built a credible reputation before becoming a political party. Another source told IRIN that the Yorubas, a majority in the southwest, had felt betrayed by Obasanjo who is from the same ethnic group, as he had not represented their interests in the past. This was why the PDP did not do well in the southwest.