Briefing: Nigeria: A Restoration Drama

Fairy godfathers and magical elections: understanding the 2003 electoral crisis in Anambra State, Nigeria

“…After a lengthy period of military-led democratic transition programmes, retired general Olusegun Obasanjo was returned to power as the democratically elected President of Nigeria on 29 May 1999. In assessing the trajectory of Obasanjo's second ascendancy to power, many scholars and commentators pointed to certain economic and social forces that, they argued, manufactured his good fortune (Anifowose & Olurode 2004; Williams 1999). They argued that factors such as the death of M. K. O. Abiola, a Yoruba southerner and the presumed winner of the annulled 12 June 1993 presidential elections, combined with increased pressures from southern politicians for a shift of power from the north, as well as the armed revolts in the Niger Delta and other key dynamics, created a deep sense of outrage and agitation that threatened to engulf the country in anarchy if the tyranny of the military continued.…”

“…Ultimately it had become clear that perpetual military rule had to make way for change, and the dominance of Northern Nigerian elites had to be reframed. Williams (1999: 409–10) argues that ‘there was a need for a safe pair of hands that would guarantee the status quo and save the military from wholesale disgrace and humiliation by the embittered and resentful populace’, and an Obasanjo presidency met that criterion.…”