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Published 9th September 2005

Vol 46 No 18

Nigeria

Power show

The epic battle between President Obasanjo and his deputy Abubakar is jolting the fragile political system

Locked in a deadly embrace, President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy Atiku Abubakar look like two men struggling on a cliff edge as they try to hurl each other into the ravine below. This epic battle, which now dominates politics in Nigeria, doesn't turn on policy or principle; it is a raw battle of power and personality (AC Vol 46 No 17). Vice-President Abubakar wants to stand for president in the 2007 election; President Obasanjo doesn't think he's up to the job of running what could by then be an economy worth US$80 billion a year, with a fast-growing oil and gas industry. Abubakar's supporters suspect that Obasanjo's public campaign against their man has its roots in the President's hidden plans to change the constitution and run for a third term.

Banana-skin vote

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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Roadblock

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Pointers

Terror imperative

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Clamped

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Private coups

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