Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan has ended months of speculation and confirmed he will contest January's elections. He made the announcement on his Facebook site, saying the decision had been taken "after wide and thorough consultations". Mr Jonathan, a southerner, became president in February after the death of Umaru Yar'Adua. The governing party has previously said its candidate should be a northerner. The president's Facebook statement said he would make a formal declaration of his intention to stand for election on Saturday. His aides were not immediately available for comment. The announcement came as one of his main rivals for the governing People's Democratic Party's nomination, former military leader Gen Ibrahim Babangida, launched his campaign. Thousands of people gathered for a rally in the capital, Abuja, reports the Reuters news agency. Several other heavyweight politicians are expected to seek the PDP ticket. The PDP has a tradition of alternating power between northerners and southerners for two terms each. Under this unwritten rule, its candidate in 2011 should be from the largely Muslim north, rather than the mainly Christian and animist south, which would favour Gen Babangida or former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar rather than Mr Jonathan. He is the first president from Nigeria's southern, oil-producing Delta region. But his statement said he had held consultations across the country before deciding to run. Nigeria's recent elections have been tarnished by fraud and violence. Mr Jonathan has promised to introduce electoral reforms but correspondents say it will be difficult to implement radical changes before January. Source: BBC