How Jonathan, IBB, Are
Plotting Interim Govt Instead
Of Presidential Polls
David Mark, Gusau, Abdusalami, are the top
contenders to head the Interim
Government. Former Lagos Governor
Tinubu rejects offer of Interim Government
Vice-Presidency More details are emerging on the plot to install an
undemocratic Interim National Government (ING)
and pre-empt Nigeria’s presidential election
scheduled for later this month.
Informed sources disclosed over the weekend that
a key element in the plot is the need to forestall a
Buhari presidency, for which reason the schemers
of the plot have tried to woo the former Lagos
State Governor, Bola Tinubu, now a chieftain of
the opposing All Progressives Congress (APC)
with the offer of being the Vice President in the
interim structure.
Even though there are now major obstacles to the
plan, it is yet unclear if the schemers have
completely set the idea aside.
If Tinubu accepts, then he will be expected to
rally the South-West, while IBB would rally the
North, and Jonathan the South-East and South-
South to accept the idea of an interim
administration. They will use the excuse that the
present times are not good to hold elections in
the country, especially because of what David
Mark had already called a state of war with Boko
Haram.
But it was Tinubu’s rejection of any form of
compromise that now appears to be the greatest
obstacle to the ING plot. Sources say this
explains the recent outburst of Femi Fani-Kayode,
the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign spokesperson
alleging that the former Lagos State Governor
intends to take over presidential power after the
generally-awaited victory of the Buhari-Osinbajo
campaign at the polls.
Fani-Kayode wildly alleged that Tinubu has
entered into an oath to compel Osinbajo to
relinquish the office of VP to him after the election,
an allegation and scenario that watchers of the
Nigerian polity simply dismiss as both untenable
and unrealistic.
Investigations spanning over one week by
Empowered Newswire on the interim government
plot revealed that the two major schemers in the
plot are the President himself, Dr. Jonathan, and
former Military president Ibrahim Babangida.
IBB, as he is popularly known, has told close
aides that he would have to leave Nigeria the day
Buhari is declared winner of the presidential
election, a prospect he is working hard to avoid
by all means. Jonathan is also said to be under
intense pressure to negotiate a soft landing for
from power since handing over to Buhari would
likely expose the intense corruption that he and
the Petroleum Minister Diezani Maduekwe, among
others, have perpetrated.
In fact the oil minister is said to be one of the
hardest protagonists of a soft landing for the
Jonathan presidency, mortally afraid of what a
Buhari-Osinbajo ascendancy could mean for her.
Knowledgeable Empowered Newswire sources
confirm that IBB held two meetings with Tinubu to
discuss the issue of the Interim National
Government. The first was held in Lagos before
the Council of State meeting the week before the
February 14 elections were postponed. The
second took place in Abuja home of IBB’s son on
the night of the said Council of State meeting.
The sources said that for the first meeting, IBB
told Tinubu he had a wedding in Lagos and would
like to use that opportunity to greet the former
Lagos State Governor. Arriving with his son, he
told Tinubu about the need to proceed with an
interim government and forget about the election.
Tinubu, who was shocked at the proposition,
reportedly told IBB to forget the idea.
But on the night after the Council of State meeting
in Abuja which considered the subject of the
readiness of the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to conduct the election, IBB
again invited Tinubu to his son’s house in Abuja.
At that meeting, former Head of State General
Abdusalami was also present, and to the utter
shock and annoyance of the former Lagos State
Governor, President Jonathan showed up in a
two-car convoy in the thick of the night.
It was at that meeting that IBB and Jonathan
promised Tinubu the slot of the Vice President in
the Interim government. The sources say Tinubu
promptly repeated his rejection of the idea,
insisting that the elections are the best and only
viable option to choose Nigeria’s next president
and vice president.
The interim government plan includes the
cancellation of the elections and the imposition of
a well-known Northerner as the head of the
administration, with Tinubu as VP. The interim
government will be put in place for two years,
following which new elections would be
conducted, with the definite exclusion of Buhari.
Another source revealed to Empowered Newswire
that some of the names that have been mentioned
as possible heads of the interim government
include David Mark, the president of the Senate;
General Aliyu Gusau, the current Defence Minister
who has always wished to be president “even if
for a day”; and Abdusalami Abubakar, also a
former head of state.
All three are known allies of IBB. But the name of
former president Olusegun Obasanjo was also
thrown into the picture when a formal statement
from the presidency signed by Dr. Ruben Abati
said Obasanjo himself wanted to be head of the
Interim govt.
Observers say that formal statement by the
president’s spokesperson is the best confirmation
that indeed interim governmentG plot is real.
Said one source, “If the presidency is saying they
know that Obasanjo wanted to be the head of the
Interim government, that means the presidency is
not only aware of such plans, but is also involved
in such a plot.”
There had been previous attempts including
monetary and other juicy offers to get Tinubu to
prevent the emergence of Buhari in the primaries,
and after that, to have Tinubu dump Buhari and
enter into a deal with Jonathan to frustrate the
potential emergence of Buhari as winner of the
presidential polls.
Sources believe that the recent wild allegation
from the Jonathan camp that Tinubu was planning
to force Osinbajo to relinquish the office of VP
after being sworn-in is merely an outcome of the
frustration generated first by Tinubu’s insistence
that the elections must go on; his rejection of the
offer from Jonathan to be VP of an Interim
government for two years; and finally his
insistence never to dump Buhari.
It is believed that Prof Osinbajo, Buhari’s running
mate, has actually never been asked to sign any
undertaking or oath of any kind and that he
accepted the party and Buhari’s offer to be VP
unconditionally. Both he and the APC also over
the weekend formally denied any such
arrangements.
In the absence of a key figure in the South-West
to support and sell the idea of an Interim
government, sources said options left on the table
is to ensure the elections are “decently rigged” in
favor of Jonathan or a crisis precipitated that will
lead to Jonathan handing over power to David
Mark as the Senate President, as was the case in
the First Republic when power devolved to
Senator Nwafor Orizu in the absence of the then
President Nnamdi Azikiwe. In that scenario, in
1966, the elected civilian leaders had to
voluntarily hand over power to the military.
Speculations, backed by a comment by the
Supervising Minister of Information Edem Duke,
are rife that the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru
Jega, may be asked to proceed on terminal leave
sometime this month in line with civil service
rules. This option, sources say, would boost the
plan to “decently rig the election” in the
incumbent president’s favor.
But several legal opinions have been articulated
that not only will such a move by the federal
government to remove Jega be unconstitutional, it
would also rubbish the credibility of the entire
electoral process and will result in a definite
tailspin into national and international crisis.

PDP has proved in many ways to be d corporate arm of BOKO HARAM.........doing everything to impoverish d pple, exploiting d poor, sapping d Nation of its wealth, enriching themselves n destined for he'll.....