THE mantle of power is so heavy in Nigeria that presidential candidates must be begged to run for office, or at least give that appearance. There was no serious doubt that the current president, Muhammadu Buhari (pictured), would run in 2015; that was his fourth attempt to win through the ballot box, having first tasted power with a 19-month stint as a military dictator in the 1980s. Yet even he had to maintain the fiction ahead of that vote, with allies saying that they had begged him to stand. Now, little more than a year away from the next presidential election in 2019, the theatrics are starting again.
In September 2017 the communications minister, Adebayo Shittu, was appointed to chair a “dynamic support group” to campaign for Mr Buhari’s re-election. The name seems over-energetic for a candidate who was nicknamed “Baba Go Slow” during his lethargic first few years in office. “He has not made up his mind but...some of us can assist him in making up his mind,” Mr Shittu...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2E4u8GG
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