Goodluck Jonathan wins Nigerian ruling party nomination
Jonathan, thrust into the presidency in May after the death of his predecessor, will now be favoured to win the April 9 election being viewed as one of the most important in the history of Africa's most populous nation.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party has won every presidential vote since Nigeria returned to civilian rule in 1999.
Jonathan's primary victory also means he has upended an arrangement within the PDP that sees its candidates rotated between the north and south every two terms.
The rule is viewed both as an outdated policy pandering to ethnic politics and a power-sharing deal helping hold the vast country together.
In a speech before the primary votes were cast, Jonathan spoke of a "transformation" he wanted to bring to a country long held back by corruption.
"Our nation is on the threshold of history," he said.
Jonathan was expected to win the party primary, but he faced a challenge from ex-vice president Atiku Abubakar, who had the backing of a group of elite politicians from northern Nigeria.
In the end, Jonathan won handily with 2,736 votes compared to Abubakar's 805. A spokesman for Abubakar, however, alleged rigging and intimidation.
Voting had begun Thursday evening at the Eagle Square parade ground in the capital Abuja, where a band played highlife music as thousands of delegates lined up and dropped ballots into clear boxes.
While Jonathan will be favoured in the April election, there are signs the vote may be more competitive than other recent ballots in Africa's largest oil producer, particularly if opposition parties succeed in forming an alliance against him.
Nigeria now heads into the final months of an election season that has already been marred by an upsurge in violence that has left scores dead.
Heavy security was deployed for the primary in Abuja, which has been hit by two bomb attacks since October.
In one of the attacks, twin car bombs went off on October 1 near Eagle Square, where Nigerian leaders and foreign dignitaries had gathered to commemorate the country's 50th year of independence from Britain.
Some 17,000 police officers were deployed Thursday, and several blocks around Eagle Square were cordoned off.
Jonathan faced an unusually strong challenge for an incumbent in the primary -- even though it fizzled out in the end -- with divisions in the party over whether it should abandon the president for a candidate from the north.
The dispute resulted from the arrangement that sees the party's candidates rotated between the predominately Muslim north and mainly Christian south every eight years.
Jonathan, a southern Christian, took office in May following the death of Umaru Yar'Adua, a northerner who was still in his first term.
For that reason, some say another northerner should have received the nomination. Abubakar is a Muslim from the north.
The primary vote presented a contrast in styles. Jonathan, 53, is a fedora-wearing zoologist with an understated approach.
Abubakar, 64, is a longtime political player noted for his wealth and ability to work the levers of power, but he has also been accused of major corruption, which he strongly denies.
There had been suggestions that Abubakar could move to an opposition party to run in the presidential vote if he lost the primary, but his plans remained unclear early Friday. He ran under the opposition Action Congress banner in 2007.
The April vote is being viewed as one of the most important in the country's history, testing Nigeria's ability to organise a credible poll after a series of violent and deeply flawed ballots.
It will take place as authorities seek to contain violence in the oil-producing Niger Delta region, attacks in the north blamed on an Islamist sect and unrest attributed to a power struggle in central Nigeria.