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By Alexis Akwagyiram
LAGOS (Reuters) – Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's main opponent in next year's elections has chosen a former south-east governor as a vice-presidential candidate, the country's top spokesman said on Friday. candidate.
Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president who will run as a candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 2019 vote, has chosen Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra State, in the south East of the country.
The choice suggests a strategy to generate support in the southeast, where Buhari has poorly studied previous elections and cracked down on secessionists by deploying troops on the streets. Geographic affiliations are essential in a sprawling country of 190 million people belonging to 250 ethnic groups.
Obi, 57 years old and governor of Anambra from 2006 to 2014, worked in the business world before embarking on politics, most notably as president of Fidelity Bank in Nigeria.
"Mr. Obi's choice was largely influenced by his youth, his vast knowledge of the global and local economy as well as by his quality of financial expert, an experience that Nigeria badly needed at the time. 39, present time, "said spokesman Abubakar. "This post will allow us to return our country to progress, economic prosperity and unity."
Buhari's management of one of the largest economies in Africa since taking office in 2015 has become a central issue of the campaign. The country came out in 2017 from its first recession in 25 years, but economic growth remains slow and inflation is above the single-digit target of the central bank.
Abubakar, who, like Buhari, is a Muslim from northern Nigeria, has long enjoyed support from the country's business elite. As Vice President from 1999 to 2007, he implemented a liberalization program in areas such as the telecommunications sector.
Bismarck Rewane, managing director of the Lagos-based Financial Derivatives consulting company, described Obi's choice by Abubakar as "a very good addition to the bill."
"(Obi) is renowned for his business acumen and integrity – it's a very interesting race," said Rewane.
Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday sponsored his former MP, Abubakar. At the end of a long public feud between the two men, Obasanjo said that Abubakar's experience could make an administration run by him "conducive to business".
(Edited by Toby Chopra)
