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Nigeria's soft-spoken top candidate
Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is the ruling party's candidate in Sunday's presidential election.
from the April 16, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
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.
Party insiders say that Yar'Adua won the PDP candidacy against other strong candidates, after Obasanjo intervened. Charles Dokubo, political analyst with the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, says Obasanjo's meddling is jeopardizing the credibility of the presidential polls before a ballot has been cast.
"It seems Obasanjo is trying to dictate who will rule Nigeria," says Mr. Dokubo. "It makes a sham of the elections."
Yar'Adua, speaking from his base in the capital, Abuja, told reporters that he would be his own man and dismissed the possibility that Obasanjo could continue to have influence during his tenure.
"I am amazed and amused any time people say these sort of things," said Yar'Adua at his considered pace. "There is no way you can govern a state or a federation or any nation by proxy – it just doesn't work."
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