20110207
reuters

LAFIA, Nigeria (Reuters) - To the sound of pounding reggae music in a small, dusty town in Nigeria's "Middle Belt", President Goodluck Jonathan began campaigning for an election in which he hopes to upset the natural order of politics in Africa's most populous state.

Thousands of supporters turned out to greet Jonathan on Monday in the cassava- and yam-farming town of Lafia, whose location in north-central Nigeria was chosen in an attempt to wrong-foot opponents from within the ruling party.

Buoyed by his strong victory in the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) primaries last month, despite opposition from northerners, Jonathan is widely expected to win the April 9 presidential election.

"We're on top," he told cheering supporters, dressed in his trademark fedora and kaftan-like attire.

But he faces opposition from some parts of the country for interrupting a pact that power should rotate between the mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south every two terms.

Jonathan inherited the presidency last year when his northern predecessor Umaru Yar'Adua died in his first term. He is the first head of state from the southern Niger Delta oil region and the opposition, and some in the PDP, say a northerner must complete what would have been Yar'Adua's second term.

In a bid to demonstrate he has support from around the country, Jonathan is due to hold rallies in its six main geographical zones over the next week, starting in Lafia, the capital of the north-central state of Nasarawa.

The PDP candidate has won every presidential election since the end of military rule in 1999 in this country of 150 million people. This year is unlikely to be an exception.