20100812
reuters

ABUJA (Reuters) - The chairman of Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) said on Thursday President Goodluck Jonathan had the right to contest elections due next January but stopped short of giving him outright backing.

Jonathan would need the support of his party if he is to be sure of success in the polls because of a "zoning" agreement within the PDP that says presidential terms should rotate between the Muslim north and Christian south every two terms.

Jonathan, from the southern Niger Delta, inherited the presidency when northern President Umaru Yar'Adua died this year part way through his first term.

"We did not envisage that our dear president (Yar'Adua) would die in office," PDP chairman Okwesilieze Nwodo told reporters ahead of a meeting of senior party officials with Jonathan in the capital Abuja.

"The party believes that Dr Goodluck Jonathan as part and parcel of the joint ticket has the right to contest the presidential primaries for the 2010 elections, but this would not preclude anyone in the party from contesting," Nwodo said.

A bid by Jonathan could lead to protests from some factions in the north, but his failure to stand could cause unrest in the Niger Delta, the heartland of Africa's biggest oil and gas industry, and threaten a year-old amnesty for militants.

Nobody wants to be first to declare their hand.

Should Jonathan rule himself out of the race, his power would quickly wane as state governors, ministers and parliamentarians seek to align themselves with other candidates.