LAFIA, Nigeria (Reuters) – To the sound of pounding reggae music in a small, dusty town in Nigeria’s “Middle Belt,” President Goodluck Jonathan began campaigning for an election in which he hopes to upset the natural order of politics in Africa’s most populous state.

Thousands of supporters turned out to greet Jonathan on Monday in the cassava- and yam-farming town of Lafia, whose location in north-central Nigeria was chosen in an attempt to wrong-foot opponents from within the ruling party.

Buoyed by his strong victory in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries last month, despite opposition from northerners, Jonathan is widely expected to win the April 9 presidential election.

“We’re on top,” he told cheering supporters, dressed in his trademark fedora and kaftan-like attire.

But he faces opposition from some parts of the country for interrupting a pact that power should rotate between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south every two terms.

Jonathan inherited the presidency last year when his northern predecessor Umaru Yar’Adua died in his first term. He is the first head of state from the southern Niger Delta oil region and the opposition, and some in the PDP, say a northerner must complete what would have been Yar’Adua’s second term.

In a bid to demonstrate he has support from around the country, Jonathan is due to hold rallies in its six main geographical zones over the next week, starting in Lafia, the capital of the north-central state of Nasarawa.

The PDP candidate has won every presidential election since the end of military rule in 1999 in this country of 150 million people. This year is unlikely to be an exception.

A band played reggae music with lyrics including “Goodluck Jonathan, he will bring fresh air.” Police used dogs to clear a path through supporters for party bigwigs, so they could take their places in the stands around Lafia’s sports stadium.

STRATEGIC CAMPAIGN

Jonathan has promised a “new kind of leadership uncontaminated by the prejudices of the past” and has listed ending chronic power shortages, improving health and education and ensuring food self-sufficiency among his priorities.

He also has pledged to better manage the OPEC member’s oil revenues with a planned sovereign wealth fund and promised a clampdown on kidnappers and criminals “that give us a bad name.”

“Before this time, people would set off bombs, people would be killed, houses would be destroyed and after one or two months it would be swept under the carpet,” Jonathan said in a speech which played to the crowd, largely focussing on local issues.

“This administration will not sweep any crime under the carpet,” he said, to rapturous applause.

Critics say he is a weak leader and concessions to ensure the support of parts of the north will undermine his ability to govern firmly. They point to rampant government spending as evidence that he does not have a tight enough grip on power.

They also question his record on national security.

Clashes between Christian and Muslim mobs have killed more than 200 people around the city of Jos, 140 km (90 miles) north of Lafia, since December. An Islamist sect has threatened an uprising in the remote northeast and those responsible for a New Year’s Eve car bomb in the capital Abuja have yet to be found.

Local officials said that while Lafia may be small — many of Nigeria’s other main cities have populations of several million or more — it is strategically important.

“North-central constitutes seven states,” said Jonah Ogbaji, a senior PDP official in the region.

“Jonathan has the support of the south. If we can get north-central support it will nullify the northern opposition. North-central will be key to his victory,” he said.

Jonathan’s opponent at the polls are all northerners, including Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler with a reputation as a disciplinarian who is popularly perceived as being cleaner than many in the political elite.

Ibrahim Shekarau, governor of the northern state of Kano, and Nuhu Ribadu, former head of the country’s anti-corruption commission, are his other main opposition challengers