2015 PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST: Obasanjo Intensifies Plot Against Jonathan

Fresh facts emerged, at the weekend, that former President Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo is intensifying his opposition to the 2015 re-election aspiration of incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan.

This is at a time when some hawks in the Presidency are pressing for decisiveness on the part of Mr. President, with a view to clipping Obasanjo’s wings.

The latest indication about the former President’s  moves are what sources described as the “series of meetings and consultations between Obasanjo and traditional rulers in the North”.

A former state governor familiar with the surreptitious movements of Obasanjo in the last one month told Sunday Vanguard: “The former president has been moving round the North under the guise of being a special guest at functions; but the real reason for his visits to the North is the series of consultations he is holding with traditional rulers across the zones – save, of course, North East geo-political zone where the dreaded Jamaatu Ahlil Sunna Lidawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, holds sway”.

It was learnt  that Obasanjo’s latest moves are “with a view to pacifying the North which heaps on his head all the blames for the loss  of  its hold on power as occasioned by the death of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a death which paved the way for the enthronement of Jonathan as president.

“The meetings are centred on how best the North can present a united front against the aspiration of Jonathan.  And because of his vast network of friends across the country, Obasanjo is cashing all his cheques because of this project”.

In addition, Obasanjo is also said to be in consultation with a few PDP state governors who are very loyal to him, specifically Sule Lamido of Jigawa State and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State.

Indeed, sensing this emerging threat, PDP Board of Trustees, BoT, Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, launched a counter offensive.

Already, the BoT Chairman has held talks with Lamido, Kwankwaso, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, and Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State, among others.

The talks, which are continuing, are said to be “yielding very positive results”. On his part, Jonathan himself held talks with a section of Yoruba leaders three weeks ago in Lagos.

The Yoruba leaders, who do not appear to be on the same page with the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, or its intended successor party, the All Progressive Congress, APC, are to hold another round of talks with the President at a later date.

Culled from Sunday Vanguard.