Activities leading to President Obasanjo’s inauguration for a second term in office got underway in Nigeria on Wednesday, amid tight security after the court of appeal rejected opposition demands to stop the swearing-in.
Justice Umaru Abdullahi, presenting the unanimous decision of five appeal court judges on Tuesday, said the case of the main opposition candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, to nullify Obasanjo’s election on grounds of electoral fraud would not be harmed by the inauguration of a new government.
”If the application is granted there would be no constitutional government in place from 29 May when the present tenure expires,” he said. He therefore rejected the demand.
The police tightened security across the country of 126-million after refusing protest permits demanded by a coalition of 20 opposition parties. The group, including Buhari’s All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) had planned three days of rallies from Monday in eight cities across the country to denounce Obasanjo’s inauguration.
Heavily armed anti-riot police stood guard at venues where the rallies had been planned. In the capital, Abuja, troops and police reinforcements were deployed at the airport, key land entry points and the streets. In the northern city of Kano police used teargas to disperse opposition youths who briefly set up bonfires on some streets as a mark of protest.
”No permit no rally, that’s what the Public Order Act says,” police spokesperson Chris Olakpe said. ”Anyone who goes contrary will be arrested and prosecuted.”
By Wednesday seven African presidents, including John Kufuor of Ghana, who delivered an inauguration lecture, had arrived in Nigeria ahead of several additional delegations expected from around the world. Others who had arrived were from Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gunea Bissau and Niger.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, whose re-election last year is still disputed by the opposition, is also attending the ceremony. Britain and the United States both said they would send delegations to Abuja led by senior government officials.
Kufuor likened the problems associated with Nigeria’s elections to the ”case of a glass of water being half full instead of half empty”, adding the country was on the right track with room for improvement.
Obasanjo, a former military ruler, spent most of his first term battling diverse political interest groups and seeking to build his own structures. Analysts believe the distraction this entailed meant the economy stagnated and some of the problems inherited from decades of military misrule even festered.
”With the new mandate Obasanjo received at the polls he has an opportunity to make up for the shortcomings of the last four years,” Ike Onyekwere, a political analyst, said.
Key issues that should occupy Obasanjo, the analyst said, include revamping the country’s decaying infrasture and utilities as well as working out a new political structure to give every one of the country’s more than 250 ethnic nationalities a high sense of belonging — ”particularly those in the oil-producing Niger Delta”.
Many believe that dealing with the ever growing restiveness in the region, which produces almost all the oil that is the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, may prove the strongest test of Obasanjo’s political skills in the coming years. In recent months confrontations between armed youths and the security forces — acts of sabotage targeting oil and gas facilities — have become more frequent, at one point cutting 40% of oil output.
After taking the oath of office, Obasanjo will still have to contend with some more slippery grounds ahead, especially the possibility his victory may yet be invalidated in the courts. Then there is the scepticism of opposition parties, whose claims that his victory was aided by massive rigging have been borne out by observations of local and international election monitors.
Ibrahim Modibo, ANPP spokesperson, believes Obasanjo’s new government will continue to be dogged by questions of legitimacy as long as new polls are not held in disputed areas. ”As far as we are concerned, beyond May 29 this government will not be recognised by our party, whatever that means to anybody,” he said. ‒ Irin