A former junior defence minister,
Musiliu Obanikoro, will be heading back
to Abuja as a top cabinet member as part
of a deal personally brokered by
President Goodluck Jonathan, for Mr.
Obanikoro to discontinue his legal
challenge of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, governorship primary result
for Lagos State, PREMIUM TIMES can
confirm.
Mr. Obanikoro was one of the biggest
casualties of the PDP gubernatorial
primaries, after resigning his ministerial
position to vie for the party’s ticket in
Lagos for the 2015 election.
He lost to Jimi Agbaje, a relatively less
known candidate, who had the backing
of the party’s most powerful leaders in
Lagos.
Alongside Mr. Obanikoro, former
ministers Emeka Wogu, Labaran Maku,
Onyebuchi Chukwu, and Samuel Ortom,
also lost their bids after leaving their
posts to contest in their respective states.
Mr. Obanikoro rejected the Lagos results
and filed a legal challenge against the
declaration of Mr. Agbaje as winner,
kicking off a row that has the potential
to ruin any chances the party may have
in snatching Lagos from All Progressives
Congress, APC in 2015.
The logjam has finally been resolved
amicably with the former minister
accepting to withdraw his court case, at
the same time fully support Mr. Agbaje
as the PDP candidate, presidency sources
have confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES.
On Friday morning, a relaxed and
visibly pleased Mr. Obanikoro appeared
on Channels Television programme,
Sunrise, to explain why he agreed to
drop his court case challenging the
result.
Mr. Obanikoro said he acted in the
interest of the party, and reflected on
how the party needs a united front to
defeat the APC and win Lagos after 15
years.
“But as I’ve said to you, we want to win
Lagos. And the only way we can win
Lagos is if we are united and people see
us as being responsible and ready to
provide leadership. For 16 years we’ve
had a running battle between Lagos and
the federal government,” Mr. Obanikoro
said. “We want a government in Lagos
that will engage the federal government
constructively for the good of
Lagosians.”
He denied agreeing to give up his legal
challenge in return for a ministerial
appointment, although he quickly added
that he would be ready to serve if called
upon to do so.
“Any time that you are called to come
and serve the public, I think it makes
sense to accept and do just that. I’m in
politics, for goodness sake, for the good
of our people, and if an opportunity
presents itself for me to come and
manage the affairs of men and women,
why will I turn it down?” he asked.
PREMIUM TIMES can confirm that
despite his denial, Mr. Obanikoro was
given assurances from the highest office
in the country that his personal interests
would be well taken care of if he
dropped his challenge.
A source within the presidency, well
aware of the negotiations leading to Mr
Obanikoro’s decision to back off, said
the former subordinate minister was
assured by the president that he would
be appointed a senior minister in
January when the Senate reconvenes.
“He reached a deal to be made a full
minister in January and to continue
holding his position if President
Goodluck Jonathan gets re-elected in
February,” our source said.
Our source also said that Mr. Obanikoro
was promised a prominent role in the
president’s re-election campaign effort
in the South West, especially in Lagos.
“We don’t know what that role would be
at the moment, but it is definitely not
that of actively leading the campaign in
the South West since he would have been
appointed a minister then but he would
definitely play a key role in the
President Jonathan’s campaign,” the
source added.
Part of the terms reached with Mr.
Obanikoro was for him to have a say in
who becomes Mr. Agbaje’s running
mate, as well as the right to choose some
of the commissioners in Mr. Agbaje
cabinet should he emerge winner of the
Lagos gubernatorial election.
Our source explained that the deal
literally elevated Mr. Obanikoro from
being a mere candidate to a power
broker in Lagos and to some extent,
southwest PDP.
“As you can see, he has come out of the
deal looking stronger and Bode George
and (Adeseye) Ogunlewe are the losers
here after all,” the source said.
Bode George, a chieftain of the party,
and Adeseye Ogunlewe, a former
Minister of Works, are believed to be the
power brokers behind the emergence of
Mr. Agbaje as the PDP gubernatorial
candidate in Lagos. However, they were
not at the meetings where the deal was
concretised, the source said.
During the Sunrise interview, Mr.
Obanikoro allayed concerns that the
absence of both men may jeopardise the
deal in the future saying both men
eventually got what they wanted and
there was no reason why they should not
accept the decision of the party.
“I believe Chief Bode George is on
holiday somewhere outside Nigeria and I
believe that if you look at the
convergence there, you will see that all
stakeholders particularly the aspirants
who were aggrieved… Jimi Agbaje
represents Ogunlewe and Bode George’s
interest as far as I’m concerned and that
is what that is all about and we have all
now come together to embrace Jimi
Agbaje,” he said.
When asked if the absence of Messrs
George and Ogunlewe during the
negotiation isn’t a sign of trouble, our
source said the deal was initiated by the
president himself and that there is no
way both men, regardless of their
influence would dare to overrule the
president.
“The president is the national leader of
the party and no one would want to
scuttle a deal he personally brokered.”
Source: PREMIUMTIMES