PRESIDENT JONATHAN SENDS DELEGATES TO OBASANJO
President Goodluck Jonathan has sent delegates to former president Olusegun Obasanjo for a visit, Daily Trust reports.
This is seen as a last minute move to get the blessing of his estranged political godfather ahead of the February 14 presidential elections.
Late last month, Jonathan visited former head of state Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd) in his country home in Minna, Niger State.
It was gathered that Jonathan’s delegates have been on the trail of Obasanjo who is the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) .
President Jonathan would have been in Abeokuta for the visit last Thursday January 1 if not for a last minute cancellation. Evidence that Jonathan was being expected at the Obasanjo’s country home last Thursday was that the expansive house became a Mecca of a sort albeit temporarily, with the presence of PDP bigwigs.
After hours of waiting and an apparent indication that the visit would no longer hold, the visitors started leaving one after the other. A top member of the party confirmed to Daily Trust that their presence was “aimed at giving Mr. President a befitting welcome.”
He said: “But, after series of calls to Abuja, we found out that it has been rescheduled, but what time and venue it will be, I cannot say.”
The reason for the cancellation could not immediately be confirmed but a source said both sides decided to postpone it due to understanding reached between them.
“I think both sides want to play safe to avoid past experiences. What aides are doing to divide them is more than what they are doing to unite them.
“There is need to have enlarged presence of some eminent Nigerians, so that the meeting would be frank and expository. Both sides apparently agreed to the idea.
“So, may be after the holidays, the visit will hold. In fact, Baba (Obasanjo) is willing to come down to Abuja as mark of respect for the Office of the President, but, the President is just determined to come to Abeokuta, just as it was done for Babangida at Minna,” the source said.
However, our correspondent further gathered that Obasanjo would still stick to his demands for discipline in the party, level of insecurity/state of the economy and his relevance in the PDP, after all primaries had been concluded and his loyalists demeaned.
During the visit of six governors of the PDP last month, Obasanjo declared that he would not allow the crisis in the party to be solved through a back-door solution, which he described as a “NADECO” approach.
On the state of the nation, the former president said, “it gives serious concern and with the rainy days staring us at the face, we have to let the nation know. You don’t need an expert to say that our economy is not what it is supposed to be,” Obasanjo had said.
