Jonathan's Presidential Run and Nigeria's Power-Sharing Agreement

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan announced Sept. 15 that he intends to seek the People's Democratic Party (PDP) presidential nomination. Jonathan, who became president when former Nigerian President Umaru Yaradua died in May, is testing Nigeria's zoning agreement — an unspoken power-sharing arrangement between the country's north and south — by seeking a four-year presidential term of his own. Some elements within the PDP are opposed to a Jonathan presidency even as Jonathan tries to garner support from the northern state governors and the Igbo in the south.