Nigeria's President Gets Tough on a Political Rival

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's efforts to sideline a political rival could indicate he intends to run for re-election in 2015 over the objections of northern politicians who believe it is their turn for the presidency under Nigeria's unwritten power-sharing agreement. Jonathan is reportedly trying to remove Rivers state Gov. Rotimi Amaechi as chairman of the country's National Governors Forum, possibly a first step toward extracting him from office entirely. The move by a sitting president against a peer from his home Niger Delta region is not unprecedented in Nigeria and demonstrates how political competition in the country is not simply a matter of north versus south.