Anxious wait for Nigeria's president

President Obasanjo is expected to ride out the storm

By Dan Isaacs BBC, Lagos

Political tensions are rising in Nigeria as the country's President, Olusegun Obasanjo, faces the toughest test of his three-and-a-half years in power.

Unless he can pull off a last minute deal with parliament, he will face impeachment proceedings next week.

Charges against Obasanjo

Money withheld from parliament

Oil revenues not accounted for

Sending army against civilians

Failed to fight corruption

His opponents accuse him of misappropriating public funds, of abuse of power and of flouting the country's constitution.

The president's supporters say this is merely a tactic by his detractors to derail his quest for a second term in office in the forthcoming elections.

It should be made clear that President Obasanjo is not being directly accused of corrupt practises.

The main charges, rather, relate to his mismanagement of the country's finances.

No reply

In particular, that funds approved by parliament - amounting to many millions of dollars - have been withheld by the presidency.

Further, that oil revenues that should have been entered into the national accounts have not appeared on the books.

These are serious charges, and ones that the president has yet to formally reply to.

MPs have embarrassed Obasanjo

He is also accused of ordering the army into action against unarmed Nigerian civilians on two separate occasions during his presidency - resulting in the deaths of many hundreds of people - and without the approval of parliament.

All matters that the MPs say, reflect a president who has ridden roughshod over the constitution, acting more like an autocrat than a democratically elected president.

The timing of this impeachment debate is critical.

Mr Obasanjo is seeking a second term of office in elections early next year, but he has not yet received the nomination of his party, the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

And it is members of this party within parliament that are driving this impeachment process forward.

Liability

It reflects a deep anxiety within the PDP that Mr Obasanjo has not performed well during his time in office, and would be a liability rather than an asset in the elections.

Over the next few days, there will be frantic behind-the-scenes negotiations with wavering members of parliament, to try and persuade them to reject the motion.

So far, they have remained firm, and refused to back down.

But Mr Obasanjo is a political fighter, and without the emergence of a credible candidate to oppose him, it is, ultimately, most unlikely that he will be ditched by his party.