A committee set up after a meeting of prominent politicians from the North has suggested the adoption of a single platform that will serve as a rallying point for all opposition groups from that part of the country, THISDAY has learnt.
The politicians including former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and former governor of Sokoto, Alhaji Dalhatu Bafarawa, noted that the interests of the North would be better served under a strong and cohesive platform.
THISDAY gathered that the committee which met last week in Abuja also looked at the possibility of creating a new political party or merging existing ones capable of speaking with one voice. The meeting lasted over two hours.
According to a source who spoke under condition of anonymity, the new structure is expected to begin discussion on issues that affect the North. It is also expected to serve as a unit that can negotiate with other parts of the country on behalf of Northern Nigeria.
He said: “this single platform is expected to discuss issues that affect the North and serve as a rallying point of the Northern opposition group and a point for all negotiation with other groups in the country, ”
Furthermore, the meeting discussed how to salvage the North and how to ensure a united Northern Nigeria that can fill any political vacuum from 2011 onwards.
Another source told THISDAY that representatives of Buhari, Atiku and Bafarawa agreed that the political interests of the principals would remain in the background for the sake of salvaging the dwindling political interest of the North.
“They agreed that the idea of who shall be the presidential candidate of the new political structure should be reduced to the barest minimum and that the utmost interest of the North should be paramount,” he said.
Continuing, he said that “the meeting agreed that Buhari and Atiku had made mistakes in the past and blamed the mistakes on the political elite that do not want the unity of both leaders. The leaders on their own realised their mistakes.”
Furthermore, the political actors discussed how to carry the South along in the new political development and unanimously agreed that only a united front would challenge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), beginning with the 2011 general election.
It was gathered that Buhari, Atiku and Bafarawa would be meeting to decide on the report of the committee.
Buhari was represented by the leader of the Buhari Organisation, Dr. Sule Hamma, while Dr. Usman Bugaje and Senator Lawan Shuaibu represented Atiku and Bafarawa respectively.

Source: http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=150526