FRESH PLOT TO SCUTTLE NIGERIA'S ELECTION:
JONATHAN HOLDS SCRET MEETING WITH
FORMER VP ATIKU
President Goodluck Jonathan paid a secret visit
to former Vice President Abubakar Atiku on
Friday night to hold a meeting that lasted till
the early hours of Saturday.
Sources at the Presidency told SaharaReporters
that Mr. Jonathan went to Mr. Atiku’s home
with the aim of persuading the former VP to
lead a so called interim government of national
unity that the president has been covertly
attempting to sell to numerous political figures
in recent weeks.
One source said Mr. Jonathan and some
hawkish members of his inner circle, including
Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke,
First Lady Patience Jonathan, Governors
Olusegun Mimiko and Ayo Fayose of Ondo and
Ekiti respectively, as well as senior presidential
aide Doyin Okupe, have decided that handing
over power to Muhammadu Buhari “is out of
the question.
” Several electoral monitoring groups are
projecting that Mr. Buhari, a retired army
general and the presidential candidate of the
All Progressives Congress (APC), is the odds-on
favorite to win the March 28 presidential
election.
When SaharaReporters reached Mr. Atiku, he
expressed surprise that we knew about his
meeting with President Jonathan. He asserted
that the idea of his heading an interim
government did not come up during the long
discussion with the president. Mr. Atiku said he
had retired to bed when he was woken up and
told that President Jonathan had come to see
him, adding that the president was already
waiting in his living room.
After denying that he was asked to head an
interim government, the former vice president
admitted that Mr. Jonathan tried to prevail on
him to rejoin the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP). He disclosed that he rejected the
invitation outright.
According to Mr. Atiku, the president also
discussed the ongoing war against Boko Haram
insurgents, asking for support for Nigerian
troops fighting in the area. He said they also
discussed the possibility of displaced Nigerians
returning to the areas that have been
recaptured from Boko Haram.
Asked by our reporter whether he thought
President Jonathan was interested in allowing
elections to hold on March 28, the former vice
president hesitated before stating that he
would not wish to speculate, but he said the
president’s body language did not reveal that
he was interested in the polls that are
scheduled to hold in two weeks. The secret
meeting between Mr. Jonathan and former VP
Atiku has caused unease among some APC
stalwarts.
A few hours after the meeting, a faction of Mr.
Atiku’s original political organization, the
Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM),
announced their endorsement of President
Jonathan.
In his telephone interview with
SaharaReporters, Mr. Atiku disclosed that he
was opposed to the formation of an interim
government. He stated that when former
military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, set up an
interim national government in 1993, the
dictator offered him a position in the
government through the late General Shehu
Yar’Adua (ret.). He said he rejected the
position, adding that it was eventually given to
a Lagos politician Dapo Sarumi.
Asked further about the substance of his
conversation with Mr. Jonathan, the former
vice president said advised the president to
ensure that the elections were free and fair
and devoid of the bloodshed that trailed the
2011 general elections.