Jonathan sworn in as president
Source: Agencies |
May 7, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NIGERIA'S acting leader, Goodluck Jonathan, was sworn in as president of Africa's most populous country yesterday, as the body of the oil-rich nation's elected president was flown north for a traditional Muslim burial one day after his death.
Jonathan put on a sash bearing the green, yellow and white colors of Nigeria, signifying he had formally taken over for President Umaru Yar'Adua though he had been acting president for months.
Yesterday, soldiers escorted a stretcher bearing the body of Yar'Adua, wrapped in a Nigerian flag, onto a military cargo plane bound for his native Katsina state.
Yar'Adua, who had long suffered from kidney ailments and was recently hospitalized in Saudi Arabia because of heart problems, died on Wednesday night.
Jonathan will serve as president until next year's election, likely to be held by April 2011. He also will be able to select a vice president to serve underneath him, subject to Senate approval.
In a brief address, Jonathan promised his administration would focus on electoral reform and the fight against corruption during its short tenure.
An unwritten power-sharing agreement within Nigeria's ruling party calls for the presidency to alternate between Nigeria's Christians and Muslims. Yar'Adua, a Muslim, was still in his first four-year term though - meaning there could be a political fight brewing in the ruling People's Democratic Party over allowing Jonathan to contest the presidency.
"Jonathan must be interested in contesting for the presidency, but he still has not revealed his hand and he's still pretty hesitant about signaling what his intentions are," said Mark Schroeder, director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis for STRATFOR, a private security think tank based in Austin, Texas.
"Jonathan will certainly keep his hat in the ring and that will ensure he remains an influence within Nigeria's political system."
Yar'Adua's death came almost three months after Jonathan had assumed control of Nigeria as acting president and less than a year away from the next presidential elections in a country once plagued by military coups.
In Lagos, the streets remained quiet as Jonathan declared a public holiday and the start of seven days of mourning.
Jonathan put on a sash bearing the green, yellow and white colors of Nigeria, signifying he had formally taken over for President Umaru Yar'Adua though he had been acting president for months.
Yesterday, soldiers escorted a stretcher bearing the body of Yar'Adua, wrapped in a Nigerian flag, onto a military cargo plane bound for his native Katsina state.
Yar'Adua, who had long suffered from kidney ailments and was recently hospitalized in Saudi Arabia because of heart problems, died on Wednesday night.
Jonathan will serve as president until next year's election, likely to be held by April 2011. He also will be able to select a vice president to serve underneath him, subject to Senate approval.
In a brief address, Jonathan promised his administration would focus on electoral reform and the fight against corruption during its short tenure.
An unwritten power-sharing agreement within Nigeria's ruling party calls for the presidency to alternate between Nigeria's Christians and Muslims. Yar'Adua, a Muslim, was still in his first four-year term though - meaning there could be a political fight brewing in the ruling People's Democratic Party over allowing Jonathan to contest the presidency.
"Jonathan must be interested in contesting for the presidency, but he still has not revealed his hand and he's still pretty hesitant about signaling what his intentions are," said Mark Schroeder, director of sub-Saharan Africa analysis for STRATFOR, a private security think tank based in Austin, Texas.
"Jonathan will certainly keep his hat in the ring and that will ensure he remains an influence within Nigeria's political system."
Yar'Adua's death came almost three months after Jonathan had assumed control of Nigeria as acting president and less than a year away from the next presidential elections in a country once plagued by military coups.
In Lagos, the streets remained quiet as Jonathan declared a public holiday and the start of seven days of mourning.
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