Reuters
Abubakar

Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday expelled Vice-President Atiku Abubakar for joining the opposition ahead of elections next year and called on President Olusegun Obasanjo to replace him.

The decision of the party's National Executive Committee is seen as a prelude to Obasanjo removing his estranged deputy, which analysts say would create a constitutional crisis in Africa's top oil producer and most populous country.

"The vice-president, by picking the presidential ticket of another party obviously is no more a member of PDP," said party spokesman John Odey after a meeting in the capital.

In a statement, the PDP called on the president to "restore the structure of the presidency" in line with the Nigerian constitution which required the vice president to belong to the same party as the head of state. But a spokesman for Abubakar said this was not so.

Abubakar wants to succeed Obasanjo after elections in April when the president must step down. But the former military ruler is determined to stop his deputy and has presented two reports to the National Assembly accusing him of corruption.