The death of Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua is unlikely to plunge Africa's most populous state into crisis, but it intensifies what was already shaping up to be the fiercest succession race since the end of military rule.

Yar'Adua has been absent from the political scene since last November, when he left for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, and his deputy Goodluck Jonathan has been running the country since February, when he assumed full powers as Acting President.

After initial fears of a power struggle as the camp around Yar'Adua fought to maintain influence, Jonathan has consolidated his position, naming a new cabinet and advisers, and Yar'Adua's death is unlikely to have any immediate impact on policy in the OPEC-member nation.

But it does pile pressure on the powerbrokers in the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) to resolve a months-old impasse over who should succeed him.


http://gistboard.com/content/nigeria-succession-wide-open-after-yaraduas-death