Nigeria sets presidential poll for January 22

2010-09-07 7:24:00 PM

Nigeria will hold presidential polls on January 22, the electoral commission said today, putting pressure on President Goodluck Jonathan to say whether he will stand and leaving little time for badly-needed reforms.

Parliamentary polls will be on January 15, with governorship elections in the 36 states rounding off the process on January 29, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) information chief Solomon Soyebi told a news conference.

Jonathan has not yet said whether he will run for re-election in Africa's most populous nation, but the ruling party will now be under pressure to decide on its candidate, with polling day just four months away.

Under a new Electoral Act signed into law last month, political parties have until 60 days before polling day to submit their candidates, meaning the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) will have to conclude primaries by late November.

Jonathan's election bid

An election bid by Jonathan, who is from the southern Niger Delta, could prove divisive due to an agreement in the PDP that power rotates between the Muslim north and Christian south every two terms, meaning the next president should be a northerner.

The PDP has said Jonathan has the right to run, because he was previously vice president on a joint ticket with northern President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died mid-way through his first term earlier this year. But, the party also said that it would uphold the principle of "zoning" and that other candidates were free to contest at its primaries.

Recent announcements by Jonathan's administration, from pledges to end chronic power shortages to long-awaited reforms to the energy sector, have looked more like campaign pledges, heightening expectations he will stand. But, two northern candidates - former military leader Ibrahim Babangida and former vice president Atiku Abubakar - have already declared they would run against Jonathan to seek the PDP nomination for 2011.