AS part of its desperate strategy towards capturing the presidency in 2015, the northern political mafia has allegedly recruited former President Olusegun Obasanjo to assist them in achieving their herculean objectives.
National Daily impeccable sources disclosed that Obasanjo finally succumbed to the pressure to work for a northern candidate in 2015 presidential election after a nocturnal meeting with some delegates from the North who recently met with him to discuss the project.
The conservative North has made it emphatically clear that the region is not willing to compromise being given the chance to produce President Goodluck Jonathan's successor in the next presidential election.
From the fore-boarding, indications have emerged that the relationship between President Jonathan and former President Obasanjo might have suffered a crack because of recent political differences and living up to his vengeful character, Obasanjo has accepted the carrot dangled by northern power brokers and has been allegedly strategizing on how to pull down Jonathan.
The North
Northern political mafia which includes former President Ibrahim Babangida, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Federal Minister of Finance, Adamu Ciroma, and Junaid Mohammed have been sorting out their political differences with a view to forging a common front in order to move the northern region forward. “They have held several meetings in Kaduna, Abuja and IBB's Hill Top residence in Minna, Niger State, in recent times. The group at one of their meetings reviewed the political history of the North and conceded that northern leaders have been insensitive to the fundamental needs of their people and seriously desired a change to make amends. They were said to have decried the deplorable state of northern infrastructure, its decaying institution and deplorable education system.
The northern political mafia welcomed President Jonathan's plan to offer education to the Almajiris, but expressed fears that Jonathan may utilize that achievement to get votes from the core north in 2015 presidential election.
The Arewa Political Leaders allegedly reviewed the general performance of President Jonathan so far and were said to have given him average marks. “They observed that only the middle belt political zone seem to have benefitted immensely from federal projects and lamented the alleged neglect of North-West despite that the zone produced the Vice President,” according to our source who added: “It was also observed that the South-South and South-East region has also benefitted so much from the Jonathan administration and urged the need for political intervention in order to correct the so called imbalance.
National Daily competent sources also disclosed that the group was disenchanted with the performance of some northern political appointees in federal and state appointment. “They allegedly criticized the performance of our governors in the far north and three ministers whom the group said are disappointment to the north,” our source said adding: “It was decided that efforts should be made to ensure that the public officers affected vacate office.”
The influential leaders from the north allegedly condemned the new PDP chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, for accepting to become a tool in 2015 political chessboard. “The most visibly angry was Atiku who like Tukur comes from the North-East. It was obvious that Atiku perceives Tukur as an obstacle to his emergence as PDP presidential flagbearer in 2015,” our source said.
The group in its final analysis concluded that President Jonathan have made up his mind to seek for re-election in 2015 and should he concede to a candidate from the north he will prefer his Deputy, Alhaji Namadi Sambo, who it appears he chose as Vice President with a plan to help him become his successor in 2015.
Master plan
“The IBB/Atiku group has begun to map out ideas on how to realize a northern President in 2015. They have identified some northerners with potentials to become presidential candidates; two of them are those serving in Jonathan's administration. They plan to call expanded meeting of northern stakeholders including all the governors from the north. They will be given a tall order at the meeting and if any of them fell to comply with the order they stand the risk of being sanctioned. There are also plans to mobilize the northern youths through sensitization and through measures to ameliorate their poor economic condition. A contact and mobilization committee has been constituted by the mafia group to woe the South-West and South-East zone,” our source said.
It was further gathered that the group chose to identify with a northern leader with extensive political influence across the country to act as its political anchor man. A candidate who is not from the north was identified, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. It was agreed that a delegation of influential northerners be sent to him in no distance time with the fundamental argument that he now has an opportunity to correct the mistake of not allowing a northerner to complete late Umaru Yar'Adua's eight year tenure which was abridged by his sudden death in office. His preferred choice, President Goodluck Jonathan, would have had five years in office in 2015; he should endear himself to the north again by working for a northern candidate to succeed Jonathan in 2015.
The delegates, according to our sources, met with Obasanjo who initially asked for time to think about the idea after he had made the point that it is still too early to talk about 2015 elections. After all, Jonathan has barely spent a year in his own presidency.
At another meeting the delegation from the north tacitly explained to Obasanjo that preparation for the next elections begins immediately after the extant one is completed.
“It seems Obasanjo has fallen for the northern bait. His resignation as PDP Board of Trustees Chairman as soon as Tukur was elected is very suspicious. Although, he was nearing the end of his tenure and may have perceived that PDP stakeholders will kick him out. His relationship with President Jonathan recently has not been very cordial owing to Obasanjo's meddlesomeness and vindictive nature. Our thinking is that Obasanjo's decision to detach himself from the BOT is to enable him play his card on the issue of who becomes PDP's presidential candidate in 2015,” our source said.
Jonathan camp
However, Jonathan's presidential Political Advisers are not losing sleep over obasanjo's newest political drift which they said is good radiance to bad rubbish. The president's think tank has known ahead of time where Obasanjo's future political ship is sailing towards. He is now a man who has lost his relevance and is desperately seeking to get it back. “But we are sure that he will fail because Jonathan is acceptable to all Nigerians because of his visible performance since he was sworn into office. At the end, the north will regret ever recruiting Obasanjo who is very much disliked across the country even in his own South-West region. Obasanjo's relevance in 1999 stems from the fact of his unjust imprisonment but he has since lost that sympathy because of his dictatorial attitude as President and later as PDP BOT chairman,” an angry politician close to Jonathan said, adding: “Obasanjo cannot walk freely in any of the South-West states including his immediate communities in Sango-Ota and Abeokuta. You know the Igbos don't like him at all. So, is he going to influence who to vote for a northern presidential candidate in 2015?
Obasanjo has been making desperate efforts to build a strong political structure in the South-West as a strategy to remain relevant. For over eight years he was the deciding authority of a major political event among PDP members in the zone. It is he also who eventually gave nod to any South-West PDP members who aspired to occupy a top national position. During the 2003 governorship election, Obasanjo was able to use the power of incumbency to install PDP governors in all the South-West States except Lagos where Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the then Action Congress resisted Obasanjo's foul tactic. Obasanjo continued to ride rough shod on the PDP members in the South-West until the expiration of his presidency and following his lost of substantial political influence even before his purported resignation as PDP BOT chairman. First, his associate, Bode George, was jailed for corruption. He lost his wish to install a House of Representatives Speaker from the South-West. Recently most of his preferred choice for PDP national top position lost except Segun Oni who emerged National Vice Chairman, South-West.
It appears Obasanjo is merely deceiving himself as being the new bride of Nigeria politics.
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