In spite of
rapprochement by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, Northern leaders are
wary of his 2015 permutations to appease the region against President
Goodluck Jonathan.
Northern leaders are weighing options on
the need to weather the storm alone instead of allowing Obasanjo to
have his way for the third time.
The former President was instrumental to
the imposition of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2007 and the
incumbent President in 2011 to frustrate the North’s desire for two
terms in office.
But following sharp disagreements with
President Jonathan, the ex-President is alleged to be leading a discreet
campaign to deny Jonathan a second term ticket in 2015.
Obasanjo’s latest move is seen as a step to “appease” the North for the alleged “political errors” in 2007 and 2011.
The spokesman for the former President,
Mallam Garbadeen Mohammed, however, said the recent shuttles of his
principal to some leaders in the North and in the East had nothing to do
with 2015.
Investigation by our correspondent
showed that Northern leaders are still not favourably disposed to
realigning with Obasanjo in their 2015 agenda.
It was learnt that some members of the
National Assembly from the North also do not support a fresh romance
with Obasanjo by the region.
A top member of Arewa Consultative
Forum, who spoke with select newsmen in Abuja, said: “Going by what the
North has gone through in the past few years, it will be a political
suicide to entrust our political destiny in Obasanjo’s hands in 2015.
“Obasanjo has a track record of those he
had moved against because they disagreed with him. They include past
Senate presidents, and his VP, Abubakar Atiku. Even at a critical
moment, he made some remarks against the late President Umaru Yar’Adua
when the latter was sick.
“The North does not trust him because he
has a history of imposing his views on people. During the choice of who
succeeded him, he picked Yar’Adua despite opposition from his (Yar’
Adua’s) constituency (the North).
“Obasanjo insisted it must be Yar’Adua,
who his kinsmen felt was too ill to face the rigors of office. Now, the
North detests Obasanjo because they feel he deliberately planted a
southerner, Goodluck Jonathan as VP, who eventually threw spanner in the
works.
“The North feels sticking out their neck
will be a big gamble because if the South-South, South-East, and the
South-West where Obasanjo is abhorred should throw their weight behind
Jonathan, they (North) would be left in the lurch.
Responding to a question, the source
added: “Another problem Obasanjo has with the North is his prescription
of Odi massacre for Maiduguri, which is the Boko Haram’s haven. The
Northerners are not happy about this option and a former Minister of
Communications, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, said so recently.
“Obasanjo had moved against Atiku,
blocked his ambition when Atiku ran against Jonathan during the PDP
primaries. He had also fought another Northerner, ex-House of
Representatives Speaker Umar Ghali Na’Aba and removed a former National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh.
“Obasanjo met with Kebbi, Kano , Sokoto,
Katsina state governors after his mosque fund raiser in Abeokuta. He
was unable to sell his project. Sule Lamido who he had favored to step
in did not attend the event.
“The South-East does not trust him
because he was one of those who masterminded the removal of the
chairmanship of PDP from the South-East.”
A former presidential aspirant in the
North said: “We are weighing options on 2015 but I am sure by now all
our leaders, including Northern governors, know where we are going. We
won’t play a second fiddle again. The ACF has submitted a roadmap to the
Northern Governors Forum to serve as a guide.
“I can just say that this time around, no one will dictate to us.”
A reliable source at the National
Secretariat, who spoke in confidence, said: “His move against Jonathan
will fail. The move is symptomatic of his penchant to reject anything
that does not serve his interest. Obasanjo is a man who likes to play
god on any national issue because of his erroneous belief that he has
played more prominent roles than anybody in Nigeria.
“For this, he believes that he has
monopoly of knowledge. He has this false sense of acceptability
nationwide. It is clear Obasanjo has no clear electoral value; he has no
interest of the North or South-East at heart but just vendetta.
“The PDP lost in his ward but he still
believes he has the South-West in his grip. His daughter failed in her
return bid. Most of those who worked with him as individuals or group
lived to regret it, so no one trusts him. Even a former Minister of
Aviation, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, who is defending the former President,
once disagreed openly with him.
“The South-East does not see him as an
ally, he has shortchanged them several times. Ask what happened to the
chairmanship of PDP that was for Igbo.”
But speaking with our correspondent, the
spokesman for the former President, Mallam Garbadeen Mohammed, said the
recent shuttles of his principal to some Northern and Eastern states
have nothing to do with 2015.
Mohammed said: “There is no disagreement
between President Goodluck Jonathan and ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
To the best of my knowledge, their relationship is very, very cordial.
Whatever you are reading about any disagreement, it is a creation of
people in the media.
“The launch of the mosque project at the
Obasanjo Presidential Library was purely a spiritual development, there
was nothing political about it. I was in Abeokuta , there was no
political undertone to it. It is a project towards the development of
unity and religious harmony in the country.
“There were people that are not Muslims
at the launch of the mosque. As a matter of fact, the Kaduna State
Government even donated N20million to the project.”
On the 2015 politics, Mohammed added: “I
have no authority whatsoever on 2015 on what is going to happen, I have
no authority to say anything.”
Asked why Obasanjo had been embarking on
political shuttles, the spokesman said: “Since His Excellency,
ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, left office, he has been in demand in
the country and outside to play the role of a statesman. The reality is
that people appreciate him at home and abroad, those shuttles were not
political at all.”
TheNation
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