Nigeria's soft-spoken top candidate

Habiba Yar'Adua, the sister of the man likely to become Nigeria's next president, points to a faded portrait of her brother as a boy smiling shyly in his matching hat and tunic.

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's face now gazes from election posters nationwide as Africa's most populous country gets set to do what it has never done before: pass rule from one civilian to another.

Until Mr. Yar'Adua emerged as the ruling party presidential candidate, few had noticed the soft-spoken Muslim governor of Katsina, one of Nigeria's most remote states. Many say he's a pawn of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

But Habiba says he shouldn't be underestimated, arguing that, "He can do what people don't expect."

If Sunday's vote goes smoothly, the fifth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States will soon have a new president.

But that's a big if. Hundreds of people have died in preelection violence and more than 21 people were killed in state and local government elections this Saturday.

With just days to go before the presidential vote, it is still not clear if Vice President Atiku Abubakar will be able to run or not. The electoral commission decided recently to ban him from the race based on corruption charges that he denies. The Supreme Court is set to decide Monday whether he may run on behalf of the opposition Action Congress Party. Some worry the decision could trigger more violence.

On the campaign trail

During his last weeks in office, Mr. Obasanjo has been touring the country, raising Yar'Adua's arm at party rallies and introducing his champ. The difference between the two men could not be more stark. Obasanjo, round and robust, marches about the podium, shouting across the rally ground in pidgin English, overshadowing Yar'Adua's slight frame and soft voice.

Obasanjo's political style is similarly bold; he's known for getting results through sheer force of will. In a recent interview in the capital, Abuja, Yar'Adua appeared deferential and unassuming as he stressed the importance of discussion and of seeking correct information and able assistants to solve Nigeria's problems.

"I would like to see that I have a government that is trusted and credible," says Yar'Adua as he spoke in slow and measured terms about his presidential aspirations. "And that can be so, if we have proper respect for law and order."

A devout Muslim, Yar'Adua is one of 12 northern governors to have implemented Islamic law in his state. He met with Anglican Archbishop Peter Akinola last month to give assurances that, if he became president, he would protect religious freedom for all of Nigeria's 140 million people, who are split evenly between the Muslim and Christian faiths.

Apart from the potential candidacy of Abubakar, Yar'Adua's main challenger is Muhammadu Buhari, also from Katsina, who tasted power as a military ruler in the mid-1980s when he earned a reputation for being tough on corruption.

Yar'Adua's critics say he is a marionette, plucked from obscurity for a starring role in a new government, with outgoing Obasanjo still pulling the strings.

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