The death last May of Umaru Yar’Adua, Nigeria’s president, upended the informal agreement between members of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to rotate power between northern Muslims and their southern, mainly Christian counterparts. Yar’Adua’s deputy, Goodluck Jonathan, from the oil-rich Niger Delta in the south, overcame resistance from members of the late president’s cabinet and was sworn in as Yar’Adua’s successor, as stipulated by the constitution.
尼日利亚总统奥马鲁·亚拉杜瓦在去年5月的突然离世打乱了执政的人民民主党党内的非正式协议，该协议约定党内的北方穆斯林派和南部基督教派之间轮流执政。而古得勒克·乔纳森，这位来自石油资源丰富的南部尼日尔三角洲的总统副手，则成功地压制住了已故总统内阁的反对之声，依照宪法的规定宣誓成为接班人。今年9月，他还公开向国民宣布自己将参加2011年的总统竞选以求连任。