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NIGERIA - CANDIDATE PROFILES |
GENERAL OLUSEGUN OBASANJO
The
retired general and pig farmer is most famous for being the only Nigerian military
leader ever to give up power voluntarily. He was Nigeria's military president
from 1976-1979. Ethnically a Yoruba from the nation's southwest region, he enjoys
strong support amongst the Muslim Hausa and Fulani peoples of the north who
have dominated Nigerian politics for the last several decades. But due to this
support and his military past, many of his own people distrust him and view
him as the military's choice for president. In 1995, General Obasanjo was jailed
with several others on charges of plotting a coup against General Sani Abacha.
General Abdusalami Abubakar released him, with eight other prominent political
prisoners, in June 1998. Nominated by the People's Democratic Party, he won
Nigeria's presidential elections.
CHIEF OLU FALAE
The
60 year-old former finance minister and Yale educated economist has spent much
of his career as a civil servant. Like General Obasanjo, he is ethnically a
Yoruba and served time in jail under General Abacha. Although Mr. Falae was
jailed for his alleged part in a series of bombings throughout the country,
most observers say his imprisonment was more likely related to his activities
with NADECO - the National Democratic Coalition - a pro-democracy group opposed
to the rule of General Abacha. Although Mr. Falae ran on a platform of economic
renewal, many Nigerians associate him with the unpopular IMF-sponsored economic
programs begun in the 1980s He was the Alliance for Democracy and All People's
Party candidate.