President Jonathan’s announcement triggered furious protests from his northern rivals, including Ibrahim Babangida, a former military dictator who reminded him that Olusegun Obasanjo, a southerner, had served as president from 1999, when military rule ended, to 2007, with northern support. Yar’Adua had completed only three years of his first four-year term when he died, and it was expected that all southerners, including Jonathan, would unite behind another northerner for next year’s vote.
新总统的这一声明激起了其北方政敌的强烈反对，其中包括易卜拉欣·巴班吉达。这位前军事独裁者提醒乔纳森：当年自南方的奥卢塞贡·奥巴桑乔在北方派系的支持下，在1999年军事独裁结束时当选为总统，一直干到2007年任满结束。如今来自北方的亚拉杜瓦在其法定4年总统任期内只做了三年就去世了，因此所有人都预料包括乔纳森在内的全体南方派党员将团结在另一位北方派党员的领导下，为后者明年竞逐大选呐喊助威。