FT933-9659 _AN-DHIDBAA0FT 930809 FT 09 AUG 93 / Babangida turns to his security chiefs for help By PAUL ADAMS LAGOS PRESIDENT Ibrahim Babangida of Nigeria will consult the senior officers in the armed forces and police tomorrow before taking his next step over a proposed interim government for the country. Civilians and junior ranks in the armed forces oppose the use of the interim government to extend military rule. Mr Moshood Abiola, the unofficial winner of a cancelled poll held in June, is in the US lobbying for sanctions to force the government to install him as head of state. There seems no prospect of a post for Mr Abiola if the interim government takes effect. Germany, which is the largest exporter to Nigeria, last week cancelled a visit by MPs and announced it would have to review bilateral relations with Nigeria until the democratic process was put back on track. Discussion by the ruling military council of the interim government proposals ended inconclusively on Friday and will restart on Thursday after Mr Babangida has seen security force leaders, who hold the key to Nigeria's political future. Pressure is coming from the lower ranks of the armed forces to withdraw from direct military involvement in government. Many officers believe their reputation has suffered since the government's refusal to install a democratically elected civilian president on August 27, leaving a six-year transition programme incomplete and the country divided by the suppression of Mr Abiola's victory. A meeting of middle and junior ranking officers in Lagos last week rejected a plan by the government which seemed to make the interim government an extension of military rule. Even the proposal for a civilian-led interim government is being treated with hostility in Lagos and the south-west, where the Yoruba majority feels the north has dominated Nigeria, mostly through military regimes, for too long. The Campaign for Democracy, a loose association of pressure groups, is organising a three-day stoppage aimed at 'the passive dislocation of civil society'. Leaflets have been distributed telling people to stay away from work but not to resort to violent protest. 'We hope that this will build up momentum and force the government to back down over the annulment of the June elections,' said Mr Olisa Agbakoba, one of the campaign's organisers, yesterday. Last month a week of civilian protest degenerated into looting and destruction, put down by the army with about 100 civilian deaths. Countries:- NGZ Nigeria, Africa. Industries:- P9721 International Affairs. P9199 General Government, NEC. Types:- NEWS General News. The Financial Times London Page 4