Nigeria's opposition 'to unite'

Opposition parties in Nigeria have agreed to unite to compete against the governing People's Democratic Party (PDP) in elections due in 2011.

The 19 parties are forming what they describe as one mega-party to challenge President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Heavyweights are involved including former presidential contenders Atiku Abubakar and Muhammadu Buhari, who also led Nigeria after a coup in the 1980s.

The opposition parties say they are uniting in order to save Nigeria.

They accuse the PDP of running the country into the ground and acting as if Nigeria was a one-party state.

Seeking registration

The PDP has dominated since Nigeria's return to civilian rule in 1999.

But observers have criticised elections as being marred by rigging, voter intimidation and the use of security forces in favour of the ruling party.

Many analysts believe the tension between opposing political camps in previous alliances gave birth to the collapse of both the first and second republics in Nigeria, says Muhammad Jameel Yusha'u of the BBC's Hausa service.

There were allegations that politicians who could not achieve their political goals connived with the military to overthrow elected governments, he says.

The opposition parties now say they are seeking registration with the electoral commission.

In the 1980s, under the leadership of former President Shehu Shagari of Nigeria's National Party, the electoral commission refused to register a coalition of opposition parties under the umbrella of the Progressive Parties' Alliance (PPA).

The big question now is whether the Independent National Electoral Commission - which is being criticised for partisanship and inability to conduct free and fair elections - is going to be different, Muhammad Jameel Yusha'u says.

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