Presidency Jittery Over Obasanjo’s Stance On Lamido
The joy of the Presidency over the success of the mid-term assessment was cut short with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s endorsement of Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, one of the speculated presidential aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at that state’s economic submit on Wednesday.
Obasanjo who boycotted the Democracy Day activities reportedly presented Lamido as a preferred option to President Goodluck.
According to an informed Presidency source, while Obasanjo was speaking in Jigawa, he was monitored by two presidential aides who reportedly briefed President Jonathan.
The brief was said to have angered Jonathan who was said to have summoned the chairman, Board of Trustees, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, his chief of staff, Mike Ogiadomen and a few others where they deliberated on the arsenal coming from Obasanjo camp.
“The meeting was held on the Red Carpet and President Jonathan could not hide his disappointment in former President Obasanjo. He was said to have asked what does this man want again? But after a while, both Tukur and Anenih calmed him down and Anenih volunteered to intervene in the matter by meeting Obasanjo in Ota before the week runs out,” the source disclosed.
According to him, the meeting fingered Obasanjo as the master puppeteer of the on-going crisis within the party and pointed out that the likes of Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu, Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Adamawa State Governor Murtala Nyako, and Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido, and a few others who are making things difficult for the President “are all Obasanjo’s loyalists”.
“Although some hawks asked President Jonathan to ignore Obasanjo that there was nothing he could do and argued that the whole southwest where he comes from have become the haven of the opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) but many of those in the meeting agreed that Anenih could still go ahead with his planned visit of the former president.”
The meeting also cautioned against fighting Obasanjo on the pages of newspapers because of the backlash agreed that the “governors that are loyal to him should be placed under watch.”
No comments:
Post a Comment