Ex-General Wins Nigeria Vote

Amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging, former Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo was elected president of Nigeria, officials said Monday. His elections will pave the way for the return of a civilian leader to the country after 15 years of military rule.

Casting a shadow over the vote, aides to Obasanjo's opponent, former Finance Minister Olu Falae, promised the results would be contested.

But speaking to journalists in a hotel room filled with aides and well-wishers shortly before the announcement of his victory, Obasanjo, who captured more than 60 percent of the vote, pledged to nurture democracy in Nigeria.

"An election is not the end of democracy," he said. "Democracy, under my leadership, will be continued."

Without elaborating, he said he was involved in talks with "all people" to "advance the cause of democracy."

Obasanjo's rival has said he believes elections were rigged, Falae's aides said Sunday. International observers have pointed out ballot-box stuffing among other voting problems.

"Our delegation members and others witnessed serious irregularities and overt electoral fraud in a number of states," said former President Jimmy Carter, who led a 60-person delegation of election observers.

Carter, added, though, that "a saving factor was that there was no nationwide pattern to favor any one party."

Those monitors were to release a detailed report on the elections later Monday.

Foreign acceptance of the election is vital for Africa's most populous nation, hoping finally to cast off its image as a pariah and in need of outside funding to cushion the blow of a collapse in world oil prices.

Obasanjo admitted election irregularities had occurred in some areas, but said they were committed by "ignorant" people, and should not influence the international community.

"I don't believe there is anywhere in the world where elections are conducted by human beings that are perfect. And Nigeria would not be an exception," Obasanjo said.

Nigeria has never held a presidential election in which the loser accepted defeat. In both previous presidential elections, in 1979 and 1993, the apparent result was contested by at least one of the candidates.

To officially challenge the election, Falae's party would have to file suit with Nigeria's Court of Appeal, a process that could take months.

Obasanjo's People's Democratic Party already earned a majority of seats in the National Assembly in elections held only days before the presidential balloting.

Saturday's presidential elections marked the start of the final phase of Nigeria's planned transition back to civilian rule.

Obasanjo, who once led the country as a general, voluntarily handed over power to civilian rule in 1979. But a military junta seized back power in 1983 and various military rulers have held power since, canceling the results of the 193 vote.

Corruption and mismanagement have cost the country billions of dollars of its massive oil wealth, leaving much of Nigeria's infrastructure crumbling.

The democratic transition began in June, when the five-year-dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha ended with his sudden death. Abacha was followed by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who has repeatedly vowed to hand over power to a civilian government.

Abubakar is to turn over power to the new civilian president on May 29.