Obasanjo’s Statement: Tinubu, Akande Swift to Action, Meet Buhari At Aso Rock

Obasanjo’s Statement: Tinubu, Akande Swift to Action, Meet Buhari At Aso Rock

Zainab Tanimu- Kaduna, NIGERIA

Last couple of weeks had witnessed several groups and individuals including governors falling over heels to endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term in office.

Just when the stage was gathering momentum and music getting louder, came a new twist with the statement released by the former President, Olushegun Obasanjo.

The former President had in a statement released to the public on Tuesday asked President Buhari to take a rest after his current tenure in office and forget his ambition to contest for the 2019 Presidential election.

Swift to this statement was the move by former Lagos state’s Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the former Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC, a one-time governor of Osun state, Chief Bisi Akande to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

The two APC chieftains arrived the Presidential Villa at about 4pm and headed straight to the President’s office after which they held a closed-door meeting which lasted for about an hour.

Obasanjo in his statement had described Buhari’s administration as a failure.

He also derided the ruling APC and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as falling short of the expectations of Nigerians.

Accordingly, he advocated for the formation of an alternative platform to be named Coalition for Nigeria, CN, through which credible presidential candidates would emerge for the 2019 general election.

Worthy of note is the fact that barely 24 hours to the release of the damning statement by Obasanjo, the South East leaders of the APC had stormed the Presidential Villa to join the endorsement bandwagon.

According to the South East APC leaders, Buhari’s endorsement would pave way for a President of Igbo extraction in 2023 after the incumbent must have completed his two terms of four years in office.

The two APC chieftains after the meeting which was believed to be a strategize for a poignant and befitting presidential response had declined comments and sneaked out to escape media ambush.

With the presidency’s silence over Obasanjo’s statement, political observers are watching keenly to see how things are going to play out.

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