Niger Delta Avengers threatened on Thursday to cripple Nigeria economy if President Muhammadu Buhari is re-elected in a vote due to be held on Saturday.
The Niger Delta Avengers – who have been demanding a greater share of the oil revenue produced in the impoverished southern region – said in a statement they hoped to end Buhariโs rule through elections and that opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar was their preferred choice for president.
Buhari faces a tight contest against Atiku, a business and ex-vice president, in Saturdayโs election in Nigeria, Africaโs biggest democracy.
The Niger Delta Avengers were behind a 2016 wave of violence that helped push Nigeria into recession. However, no substantial attacks have been carried out by any groups in the Delta region since January 2017.
The group, in a statement posted on its website, warned that if Buhari is re-elected there would be โa perpetual recession for Nigeriaโ.
The presidentโs spokesmen did not immediately respond to phone calls, emails and text messages seeking comment.
Attacks on pipelines and other facilities in the Niger Delta in 2016 cut Nigeriaโs crude output from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) to near 1 mbpd – the lowest level seen in Africaโs biggest economy in at least 30 years.
That, combined with low oil prices, pushed the OPEC member state into its first recession in a quarter of a century – crude sales make up two-thirds of government revenue and 90 percent of its foreign exchange.
Atiku, the candidate representing the main opposition Peopleโs Democratic Party, has proposed to devolve more power to regions in a policy dubbed โrestructuringโ that would give states greater control over their finances.
It would enable oil-rich states in the south to retain a greater share of the revenues generated for crude production.
โWe are adopting Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as the sole candidate to be voted for by all the people of the Niger Delta as a result of his political ideology which is in tandem with our agitation for equitable and fair principles of federalism,โ the group said.
The Avengers said that, if elected, Atiku should start a โrestructuring of Nigeriaโ within six months to forestall further attacks in the Niger Delta.
โAtiku has said that restructuring will begin on the day he takes office, so he will keep his word,โ Paul Ibe, a spokesman for the main opposition candidate, said in a telephone interview.
He said Atiku repeated his commitment to the policy in the last few days at a rally in the oil hub city of Port Harcourt.
Buhariโs government held talks with the militants to address their grievances over poverty and oil pollution in the Delta for more than a year and this led the group to halt attacks.
Any resumption of attacks would renew pressure on Nigeria as it recovers from its worst recession in a generation. The country is also facing separatist movements in the southeast and Islamist militants in the northeast.
