FEW months after former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, denied backing the speculated presidential ambition of Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido in 2015, the former leader appears to have unfolded his agenda ahead of the next general election.
Informed sources confirmed to the Nigerian Tribune that the former president had gathered a number of emissaries whom he is using to propagate the agenda.
It was gathered that prime on the Obasanjo agenda for 2015 is how to convince President Goodluck Jonathan not to seek re-election. A second leg of the agenda is to install his favourite, Alhaji Sule Lamido, as the next president.
Though the former president had denied backing the Lamido/Rotimi Amaechi ticket for the 2015 election, sources said that Obasanjo only voiced out in order to divert the attention of keen political watchers.
It was also gathered that the denial became necessary in view of the decision by Amaechi, to back out of the plot, following his peace meeting with President Jonathan last month.
Sources confirmed that the two-pronged Obasanjo agenda are currently being propagated by a crew of emissaries who have been holding consultations with political leaders of the North, South-East and South-South.
A source in the know told the Nigerian Tribune at the weekend: “Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s 2015 agenda has finally unfolded. His plans include getting people to convince President Jonathan not to seek re-election and secondly, installing his favourite among the northern governors, Alhaji Sule Lamido of Jigawa, as president. He has been sending emissaries, some notable politicians, to the president; the idea is ostensibly to convince him (Jonathan) against seeking re-election in 2015.”
Sources further confirmed that the president started reading meanings into the messages which have been traced to Obasanjo following the frequency of the messages.
It was gathered that further analysis of the intent of such messages revealed that the aim was not just to stop Jonathan’s alleged 2015 ambition, but to also distract him and drag him into thinking politics three years ahead of the election year.
“Though the president has not declared his intention to run in 2015, he became suspicious that emissaries, all traced to Obasanjo, have been coming to give him advice on how to go about the 2015 election. The president believes that the aim is less than altruistic and there is the belief that the aim really is to distract him and stop him from achieving the goals of his administration,” another source stated.
Sources also stated that the belief in many quarters is that the former president has decided to unfold the agenda right now in order to possibly weaken the presidency and prevent the incumbent from dwarfing his achievements in government.
Another source said: “He (Obasanjo) is doing this with a view to weakening the president, distract him and drag him into politics. There is the fear that with the way Jonathan is going about the electricity issue, the free and fair election, the education policy, especially the Almajiri education, his achievements could easily dwarf those of Obasanjo and his status as father of new Nigeria. The key thing is to keep Jonathan busy thinking about 2015 and politics while his tenure lapses.”
It was, however, gathered that the outreach to the South East has been rejected.
Leaders of the South-East were said to have told the emissaries that they would prefer to take over power after Jonathan’s tenure.
The South-East leaders further used the occasion of the 80th birthday of former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme, held in Abuja two weeks ago to reinforce their position, when they declared that the Igbo should take their turn at the presidency after Jonathan.
However, spokesman for Chief Obasanjo, Mr Ojekunle Adeoba said on Sunday that the allegation is a blatant lie. In a text message in response to our earlier message, he said: “It is the greatest fiction of the year; a blatant lie.”
In a telephone chat he also described the story as a lie.
He further said: “You don’t believe that. Whoever is saying that, maybe you say he is fictitious. It is a big lie.”
In another development, counting on the recent developments on South-West political scene, South West leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are reported to have spent a great part of their time on Saturday designing strategies on how to retake the South-West starting with the governorship polls in Ekiti and Osun states in 2014.
Reports from inside the leadership caucus meeting held at the La Chateau, Ibadan, Oyo State, revealed that the leadership agreed on a wide range of measures to win the South-West states in 2014 and 2015 with the zonal leader, Chief Segun Oni, reportedly telling the leaders that “Our people in the South-West have tested alternatives and are unhappy with the performance of the ACN.”
Nigerian Tribune was told that the leaders agreed to expand the caucus structure of the party to include more party leaders who are previously outside the caucus with insider report indicating that “caucuses will be constituted at the state and local government levels.”
It was learnt that the composition of the local government and state caucuses was circulated and adopted at the meeting while the new state and local caucuses are to commence their separate meetings within a month.
The meeting was also reported to have agreed to constitute and expand various committees of the party with a mandate to constitute constructive opposition and alternative governments long before the next election in Osun and Ekiti states.
Many leaders were reported to have expressed fears that in-fighting among members in some states was threatening the revival of the party, a concern said to have been acknowledged by the zonal leadership which was quoted as promising a level playing field for all interests in the party.
Aside Chief Obasanjo who reportedly expressed happiness at the revival of PDP fortunes in the zone, other leaders were said to have canvassed for immediate resolution of outstanding disputes to enable the party to conclude its electoral war plans for 2014.
Other issues reportedly touched upon at the meeting included alleged rivalry among governorship aspirants, with majority of the leaders said to have warned aspirants against war mongering and a do-or-die approach to the race.
Rather than fighting each other, the meeting was said to have told aspirants to face the ACN governors through constructive appraisal and criticism of their policies and programmes or face the wrath of the party leadership at national and zonal levels.
An unnamed leader of the party from Ekiti State was reported to have told the meeting that PDP could only gain the electoral confidence of the Yoruba if it presented credible candidates in 2014 and 2015, a position said to have been supported by General Obasanjo and others in attendance.
Oni was said to have repeated his admonition to the leaders that “the challenge before the PDP in the South-West is to strengthen ourselves to meet the yearnings of the people for a change from the present ACN-led governments at the next elections.”
Oni was said to have told the leaders that “the party must create level playing fields and inspire healthy competitions for our tickets at the various levels,” warning that “the electorate expect us as a party to demonstrate our resolve and commitment to take over the South-West by first closing our ranks and creating enduring inclusiveness in all our states.”
Oni, who predicted the end of ACN in future polls, was quoted as telling the closed door session that Ondo polls confirmed that “our people had seen through the falsehood and deceit of the ACN and are yearning for a change,” adding that “we are the change that the South-West needs and wants.”
A party leader, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, who was also at the meeting, told the Nigerian Tribune on phone that “we told ourselves many bitter truths,” adding that “our prospect has never been so great and that is why our leaders brainstormed on how to regain and sustain the confidence of the electorate before the next election.”
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