IT emerged in Abuja on Sunday that some of the revelations being attributed to the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza al-Mustapha, were part of an orchestrated plot to discredit top Yoruba leaders as a way of politically neutralising the South-West zone ahead of the 2015 general election.

Contrary to claims by the former CSO that he had a video evidence to show that some notable Yoruba leaders were “settled” to resolve the political logjam occasioned by the death of the winner of the June 12 1993 presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola, in detention, Mustapha only showed clips already broadcast by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in 1998.

The former CSO had claimed that the regime of General Abdulsalami Abubakar withdrew the sums of $200 milion, £75 million and N200 million to settle certain persons in respect of the crisis occasioned by the death of Abiola.

Nothing, however, linked the late Yoruba leaders mentioned in the al-Mustapha submissions to any scene of money sharing in the video clip he provided to the court.

Sources, however, confirmed that analysis of the former CSO’s claims indicated a desperate bid to secure public sympathy, get out of the prolonged detention and also score some political points against the South-West in the process ahead of the next general election.

Sources said that some key political strategists had discovered that the former CSO had the backing of some notable political figures from the North in his attempt to scandalise key Yoruba figures. According to sources, the plot actually emanated within the political circles.

A source said that in their calculations ahead of 2015, some political figures had planned to silence the South-West and ensure it did not speak with one voice in the next general election.

It was discovered that the solid support given to President Goodluck Jonathan in the April election was the decider of the election and that once seeds of doubts were planted among the Yoruba, they will never really regain the unity before the next election and that as such, any northern candidate can benefit from such disunity.

“Some movements and secret meetings of late among certain key political figures in the North indicate that the 2015 battle has started in earnest. There is the belief that the Yoruba nation has to be destabilised and the al-Mustapha theory is coming in handy,” a source said, a number of missing gaps in the former CSO’s story easily gave him away.

“There was nothing hidden about the visit of Pa Abraham Adesanya and other Yoruba leaders to Aso Rock after Abiola’s death. It was not a hidden meeting at all and the Political Committee of Afenifere had actually given its nod to that meeting. It was decided that the Yoruba should participate in General Abdulsalami Abubakar’s transition programme,” another source in the know said, adding that the plot to cause disunity among the Yoruba should be closely watched.

“The strategy is that once the credible leaders are scandalised, no one would be able to unite the Yoruba,” the source further said.

“With the fear that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may finally jettison zoning in line with the suggestions by former President Olusegun Obasanjo at a recent meeting, the North is afraid the South-West could rally round a candidate and give the planned transfer of power to the North a huge scare,” another source said, adding that the submissions by al-Mustapha had to be juxtaposed with the reality of 1998.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/front-page-news/26280-al-mustaphas-allegation-plot-to-rubbish-yoruba-leaders-ahead-2015-uncovered-top-northern-leaders-behind-plan

Err. To my knowledge, Fashola didn't sell out Abiola (he wasn't even relevant then.)

So how is this going to break SW unity or whatever?

At best, some guys who won't aren't really that important in the grand scheme of things now, let alone in 2015 will be discredited.