Nigeria gets new leader as Obasanjo departs

AGOI LAGOS – Umaru Yar’Adua was sworn in as Nigeria’s new president yesterday, replacing Olusegun Obasanjo and marking the first peaceful handover from one elected leader to another in the oil-rich country’s history.

Yar’Adua, whose election was overshadowed by fraud allegations, inherits rampant corruption, a weak democratic record and bad living conditions for ordinary Nigerians. The inauguration ceremony, at the Eagle Square parade ground in the administrative capital Abuja, was witnessed by African leaders and foreign diplomats – despite widespead criticism of April’s presidential polls.Yar’Adua, 55 and father of six, won the vote that was considered by most foreign observers to have been rigged by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).He was the governor of northern state of Katsina for eight years and his supporters say his track record in the mainly-Muslim state endeared him to Obasanjo who backed him for the top job.An estimated 400 billion dollars has evaporated from the country’s coffers since independence, according to a recent report.Yar’Adua has promised to fight graft, a major issue in a country regularly ranked among the most corrupt on the planet by global watchdog Transparency International.He is among a handful of governors recently absolved of corruption by the country’s anti-graft agency.On being elected governor of Katsina in 1999, he immediately made public his assets.His detractors say those qualities are not sufficient in themselves.”The job of running Nigeria has become infinitely more complex than it was years ago under the military,” one Nigerian analyst told AFP.The election campaign was marked by doubts about Yar’Adua’s health after he was flown to Germany in mid-campaign for emergency treatment for an ailment which was not made public.But the new president quickly dismissed doubts about his health, inviting critics to a game of squash.Yar’Adua will have to move quickly to pacify the opposition that is still bitter over the handling of the April poll.Obasanjo on Monday bade Nigerians farewell and pledged support for his successor.”For the eight years that I have enjoyed your mandate and support, we changed…the image of our country in the eyes of fair-minded, honest and objective observers both at home and around the world,” he said.Obasanjo first came to power in 1976 and three years later became the first military ruler to hand over voluntarily to a civilian government.Nampa-AFPThe inauguration ceremony, at the Eagle Square parade ground in the administrative capital Abuja, was witnessed by African leaders and foreign diplomats – despite widespead criticism of April’s presidential polls.Yar’Adua, 55 and father of six, won the vote that was considered by most foreign observers to have been rigged by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).He was the governor of northern state of Katsina for eight years and his supporters say his track record in the mainly-Muslim state endeared him to Obasanjo who backed him for the top job.An estimated 400 billion dollars has evaporated from the country’s coffers since independence, according to a recent report.Yar’Adua has promised to fight graft, a major issue in a country regularly ranked among the most corrupt on the planet by global watchdog Transparency International.He is among a handful of governors recently absolved of corruption by the country’s anti-graft agency.On being elected governor of Katsina in 1999, he immediately made public his assets.His detractors say those qualities are not sufficient in themselves.”The job of running Nigeria has become infinitely more complex than it was years ago under the military,” one Nigerian analyst told AFP.The election campaign was marked by doubts about Yar’Adua’s health after he was flown to Germany in mid-campaign for emergency treatment for an ailment which was not made public.But the new president quickly dismissed doubts about his health, inviting critics to a game of squash.Yar’Adua will have to move quickly to pacify the opposition that is still bitter over the handling of the April poll.Obasanjo on Monday bade Nigerians farewell and pledged support for his successor.”For the eight years that I have enjoyed your mandate and support, we changed…the image of our country in the eyes of fair-minded, honest and objective observers both at home and around the world,” he said.Obasanjo first came to power in 1976 and three years later became the first military ruler to hand over voluntarily to a civilian government.Nampa-AFP