Nigeria

Vice-President Atiku Abubakar launched his campaign for the presidency in Abuja on 25 November, insisting that he could win elections due next April, despite the open hostility of...

Intrigue, speculation, betrayal and disappointment marked the run-up to the 17 November deadline for submission of nomination papers to compete to be the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP)...

With President Olusegun Obasanjo's sacking of Transport Minister Abiye Sekibo on 6 October, the row over the 215 million euro (US$275.5 mn.) contract to supply aerial drones for...

Within two months, Nigeria's political parties are due to chose their presidential candidates and launch their campaigns for next May's elections. So far, there is an eerie surreality...

On 20 October, Swiss-based and Canadian-listed Addax Petroleum announced that it was buying a controlling interest in a lucrative Nigerian oil block - the award of which until...

Africa, with less than four per cent of the world's air traffic, suffers about a third of its air disasters. The latest, on 29 October, killed the Sultan...

As the net closes in on those state governors accused of corruption and fraud, President Olusegun Obasanjo's position has strengthened markedly against his Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and most...

In a system that typically leaves the key decisions until the last moment, Nigeria's politicians are leaving things very late. Nominations for candidates for next April's state and...

No Nigerian official has been able to explain convincingly the reasons for the delays in publishing the results of the national census held in March. That is no...

While President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice-President Atiku Abubakar sling mud at each other, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an official anti-corruption body led by Nuhu Ribadu,...

The northern Nigerian elite is in the unfamiliar position of trying to side-step the manoeuvrings of a southern President determined to block the political ambitions of at least...

Despite a record budget of US$1.2 billion for 2006, Rivers State government isn't helping those worst hit by the violence and oil shut downs in the Niger Delta....

President Olusegun Obasanjo quietly reshuffled his reform team on 21 June. He moved high-profile Finance Minister and former World Bank Vice-President Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to Foreign Affairs and fellow...

The row over a US$200 million contract won by Israel's Aeronautics Ventures to supply aerial drones for use in the Niger Delta coincides with last week's sacking of...

The attempt to change the constitution, allowing President Olusegun Obasanjo to stand for a third term in 2007, has failed, defeated in a Senate vote. The result damages...

The business lobby Corporate Nigeria and mega-company Transcorp give substance to the view in Nigeria that all politics is business and all business is politics.

Northern Nigeria's political elite flocked to Abuja on 20 April to launch the Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD), which aims to block a constitutional change allowing President Olusegun...

The top managers of the new Advanced Congress of Democrats (ACD) are Lawal Kaita (former Kaduna State Governor under President Shehu Shagari); Ghali Na'abba (Speaker of the House...

It was a bizarre political week, even by Nigeria's historically high standards. President Olusegun Obasanjo's advisors openly demanded the immediate resignation of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar after he publicly...

Why would leading arms exporter BAE Systems want to introduce Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Sani, who is under investigation by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for corrupt...

The militants know that hostage-taking and cutting pipelines is the quickest way to draw international attention to the Niger Delta, as part of the cat and mouse game...

Some of the militant leaders linked to the attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta earn tens of thousands of dollars from contracts with the oil majors....

Opposition in Africa, and particularly Nigeria, is a dangerous business. It requires courage, determination and integrity; even then there is no guarantee of success. Dr. Beko Ransome-Kuti had...

The release of four foreign hostages after 19 days in captivity in the Niger Delta did not end the crisis (AC Vol 47 Nos 1 & 2). Nor...

The main puzzle about the latest wave of attacks and kidnappings to sweep the Niger Delta is why it took so long this time. Local leaders had been...

China's US$2.27 billion foray into oil production for a 45 per cent stake in Nigeria's Block 130 is not the 'definitive agreement' that the China National Offshore Oil...