Fresh facts emerged, at the
weekend, that former
President Matthew
Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun
Obasanjo is intensifying his
opposition to the 2015 re- election aspiration of
incumbent President
Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe
Jonathan. This is at a time when some
hawks in the Presidency are
pressing for decisiveness on
the part of Mr. President,
with a view to clipping
Obasanjo’s wings. The latest indication about
the former President’s moves
are what sources described
as the “series of meetings
and consultations between
Obasanjo and traditional rulers in the North”. A former state governor
familiar with the
surreptitious movements of
Obasanjo in the last one
month indicates, “The former president has been moving
round the North under the
guise of being a special guest
at functions; but the real
reason for his visits to the
North is the series of consultations he is holding
with traditional rulers across
the zones – save, of course,
North East geo-political zone
where the dreaded Jamaatu
Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as
Boko Haram, holds sway”. It was learnt that Obasanjo’s
latest moves are “with a
view to pacifying the North
which heaps on his head all
the blames for the loss of its
hold on power as occasioned by the death of late President
Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a
death which paved the way
for the enthronement of
Jonathan as president. “What Obasanjo has come to
realize is that even most of
those he considers his
traditional friends and
confidants poke disdain at
him for his role in the imposition of the late
Yar’Adua and Jonathan as
presidential candidate and
running mate on the
platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in 2007, and he is very
desperate to make it up to
‘his people’”. “The meetings are centred on
how best the North can
present a united front
against the aspiration of
Jonathan. And because of his
vast network of friends across the country, Obasanjo
is cashing all his cheques
because of this project”. It can be said that the off-and-on
relationship between
Obasanjo and former military
president, Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida, has again engaged the ‘ON’ mode.
“When you see Obasanjo and
Babangida coming together
again with their interests
coalescing, then you know
something is in the air”, our source said. Another source – a former
presidential aide – that is
very familiar with the
scheme, said, “It is not so
much of what Obasanjo
wants from the northern traditional rulers but what
the rulers want from him.
Yes, I can confirm to you that
he has been all over the place
and he has been holding
series of consultations. The agenda is to work against
the 2015 aspiration of
President Jonathan”. Asked about the rumoured
rapprochement between
Obasanjo and his ex-deputy,
former Vice President Atiku
Abubakar, the source was
emphatic in saying that “the two have not sat down to
meet one on one but there
are behind the scene
consultations with a view to
ensuring that happens”. In addition, Obasanjo is also
said to be in consultation
with a few PDP state
governors who are very loyal
to him, specifically Sule
Lamido of Jigawa State and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of
Kano State. Indeed, sensing this
emerging threat, PDP Board
of Trustees, BoT, Chairman,
Chief Tony Anenih, launched a
counter offensive. Already, the BoT Chairman
has held talks with Lamido,
Kwankwaso, Governor
Babangida Aliyu of Niger
State, and Governor Mukhtar
Yero of Kaduna State, among others. His rescue mission is to
“ensure that a proper
reconciliation is engendered
between the President and
the state governors”, a very
dependable source told Said.
The talks, which are
continuing, are said to be
“yielding very positive
results”.
On his part, Jonathan himself held talks with a section of
Yoruba leaders three weeks
ago in Lagos.
the meeting, which had
some elders in the land as
well as a very strategic
traditional ruler in
attendance, explored ways of pacifying the S/West geo-
political zone which is
increasingly becoming
vociferous about its claims of
marginalization under the
Jonathan administration. The Yoruba leaders, who do
not appear to be on the same
page with the Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN, or
its intended successor party,
the All Progressive Congress, APC, are to hold another
round of talks with the
President at a later date.
Interestingly, even as the
President patience is being
taxed by Obasanjo’s scheme, some hawks in Aso Rock
Presidential Villa are of the
view that the former
President’s wings should be
clipped,”It is
because President Jonathan
is mild-mannered; if not, are
we not living witnesses to
how the former President deployed state power to
haunt those he perceived as
capable of stopping him from
achieving his failed Third
Term agenda? “That he is walking the
streets of Nigeria free does
not mean he is a saint,
especially the way he’s been
carrying on. Is it not the mess
that he created after eight years in office that this
administration is still battling
to clear?”
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