Nigeria Contender Vows to Return, Challenge Regime
Thwarted presidential contender Moshood K.O. Abiola threatened Friday to return to Nigeria and challenge the new military-appointed administration by forming “a real government.”
He told reporters in London that Thursday’s appointment of an interim government headed by industrialist Ernest Shonekan was “a non-event” and the new council “represents nobody but Ibrahim Babangida and a small clique.”
“By the end of next week I will be in Lagos,” he promised before heading to Washington. “It will be a real government I will form.”
Justice Minister Clement Akpamgbo, a member of the interim council installed Thursday by departing ruler Gen. Babangida, said such a move would be treated as “insurrection” and “rebellion.”
Abiola, generally believed to have won an election annulled by Babangida in June, has been out of the country since Aug. 3, seeking support for his claim to the presidency.
Stay-at-home protests again paralyzed Lagos, and oil workers planned a wider strike for today.
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