Nigeria's ruling party has appointed a new chairman at a national convention meant to end infighting as it prepares to select a candidate to replace President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2023 election.
Buhari, who was first elected in 2015, spent weeks negotiating with the party's state governors and delegates to push a consensus position before the convention on Saturday.
Late Saturday night, the party agreed on Abdullahi Adamu, a senator who had been backed by Buhari to avoid more infighting, according to All Progressives Congress (APC) party electoral committee.
"I had cause to intervene in the leadership crisis which was about to cause confusion," Buhari said in a statement. "We must avoid overheating the polity and not allow our differences to tear and frustrate the party."
Political jockeying has already begun to replace Buhari as leader of Africa's most populous nation but the race remains open with several heavyweights in the running.
Thousands of delegates and supporters had packed into a stadium in the capital Abuja, where the APC sought to end the bickering that Buhari warned could undermine its success in the 2023 vote.
The appointment of a new party chairman and delegates was a final stage before primaries later this year for a presidential candidate.
