Military

DATE=5/29/2003

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=NIGERIA / INAUGURATION (S)

NUMBER=2-303756

BYLINE=NICO COLOMBANT

DATELINE= ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has been sworn in for a second four-year term amid allegations of vote-rigging in last month's election. V-O-A's Nico Colombant reports from our West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Mr. Obasanjo, a former military ruler during the 1970s, is succeeding himself as an elected civilian.

Following threats by the opposition to disrupt the proceedings, security was extremely tight for the inauguration in the capital, Abuja.

The opposition has asked Nigeria's courts to cancel the results of the April 19th presidential election because of alleged fraud. International observers said the election was marred by rigging in some parts of the country, but that overall the results were not affected.

Mr. Obasanjo faces other challenges, including fighting corruption, putting an end to recurring religious and ethnic violence and alleviating poverty.

Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest oil producer, but about 90-million Nigerians, 70-percent of the population, live on less than one-dollar a day. (SIGNED)

NEB/NC/KL/RAE