…Al-Mustapha, Shekarue, Moh’d Abacha, Sheriff Are Hard men

If feelers from the Presidency is anything to go by then, the North may have been split with a large part routing for the second term agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan who impeccable sources say has made serious inroads in the zone since the Peoples Democratic Party governors, National Executives and the Board of Trustees have unanimously endorsed him as the part’s sole candidate for the 2015 poll.
National Weekender scooped that despite the efforts of the apex north political pressure group the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) under the leadership of Alhaji Adamu Ciroma to scuttle Jonathan’s second term agenda, the President has met severally with the very individuals working against his ambition to fashion out ways of working together but above of realizing his ambition. In one of the high profiled meetings held in the Presidential Villa shortly after the PDP endorsed his candidacy for 2015, it was agreed that Jonathan has to checkmate the growing influence ambitious northerners eyeing his seat, accommodate the interest of some aggrieved northern leaders and adopt fresh strategies to woo the north through the appointment of powerful foot soldiers.
Our presidential source reveals further, “With the top echelon of the party and the presidency silent on the President’s running mate for the 2015 election it is very obvious that a lot of politicking, horse trading and consultations with highly placed political stakeholders in the North suggest that for Jonathan to win the support of the north he has to take into cognizance the interest of the group capable of swaying the majority of the electorate his way.
“For instance the President has been told that to counter the forces of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) and his massive APC followers he (Jonathan) has to pick his running mate from Katsina State which is the home state of Buhari. This will break General’s support base from home. Of course there will no better candidate for the running mate of Jonathan than the incumbent governor of the state Alhaji Dr. Shehu Ibrahim Shema who took over from late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as governor and still remains a close friend and loyalist to the Yar’Adua dynasty in Katsina. Aside this Shema is a brilliant lawyer, a charismatic leader whose performance as governor stands him out among his colleagues and contemporaries.
“With this arrangement the incumbent Vice-President Namadi Sambo may be dropped and accommodated in another influential capacity given his loyalty to the Jonathan administration. There is no love lost between both men and Sambo understands the whole arrangement which is for the interest of the party (PDP).
“Once this issue is sorted out, it would aid the President’s foot soldiers in the north to effectively comb the zone and sell his candidacy to the electorates. The truth remains that the electorates will always listen personalities with strong characters which are already in the fold of the President talking about the likes of the new Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarue who till date is a political force to reckon with in Kano State in particular and the north at large. Former governor of Borno State Alhaji Alli Modu Sheriff who remains a political force in the troubled state could join the team despite the scathing criticism and accusation by the opposition that he is one of the sponsors of the Boko Haram.
“There is also the former Chief Security Officer to Late Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd.) who is still being wooed by the Presidency to join the PDP. Mustapha knows he has a better chance to regain his political relevance with the PDP so it is a matter of time for him to declare for the party. Once this is done, it will be a massive boost to the second term agenda of Jonathan because Mustapha still enjoys the listening ears of the north irrespective of all he passed through in the last 14 years.
“The Abacha family is still very much relevant to northern politics and it will not be out of place for Mohammed Abacha to team up with Jonathan’s government. These are not speculation they are realities on ground and part of political scheming of the last one year which has cumulated into the vote of confidence passed on Jonathan by the PDP governors, national executive and board of trustees. The President was told that he has to ensure that the former EFCC czar Mallam Nuhu Ribadu is given the backing to secure the key to Government House Yola as this will help checkmate the influence of former Vice-President Alhaji Abubakar Atiku not only in Adamawa State but in the North East geo-political zone. The picture will get clearer in the next three months.”

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