Ex Nigeria VP to challenge President Jonathan

 Lagos, 22 Nov-(ANA)-Former Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar will challenge President Goodluck Jonathan as the consensus northern candidate in ruling party primaries ahead of elections next April, his spokesman said today.

 Correspondents say the emergence of a single candidate from the north to challenge Jonathan, a southerner, at the People's Democratic Party (PDP) primaries will make his battle to win elections in Africa's most populous nation all the more difficult.

 Northern factions within the PDP chose Abubakar above three other northern contenders -- former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, Kwara state governor Bukola Saraki and former national security adviser Aliyu Gusau.

 "He has been chosen as the consensus candidate that will run against the president in the (ruling) People's Democratic Party primaries," Abubakar's campaign spokesman Garba Shehu said.

 As the incumbent, Jonathan is considered the front-runner in the primaries but his candidacy is controversial because of an agreement in the PDP that power should rotate every two terms between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

 Jonathan is a southerner who inherited the presidency this year after the death of northern President Umaru Yar'Adua, who died part way through his first term.

 Jonathan's supporters say he was elected on a joint ticket with Yar'Adua and can complete what would have been the second term. His opponents say only a northerner can succeed him, leaving the ruling party divided. (ANA)

FA/ANA/22 November 2010---------