Former military dictator, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, may wield an unexpectedly strong influence in the administration of Mr. Umaru Yar'adua, with reports indicating the disputed winner of the April election is making overtues to appease the politically-lost former military ruler.
Sunday Tribune revealed that the issue of who gets what appointment in the emerging as a major issue in the expected Yar’Adua presidency, and that it has already driven a wedge between him and out-going President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Tribune reports that against the backdrop of the impending crisis of confidence between the twosome, Yar’Adua, it was learnt, reached out to the trio of General Ibrahim Babangida, General Muhammed Buhari and Vice President Atiku Abubakar for an alliance to form the next government, post OBJ era.
Yar’Adua was said to have reasoned that in the event that open quarrel becomes inevitable with Obasanjo, it would be difficult for him to handle the retired army general headlong, hence he needs the support of his strong and influential kinsmen.
It was learnt that President Obasanjo had wanted his successor, Yar’Adua to inherit the incumbent Chief of Staff, General Abdullahi Mohammed but the president-elect was said to have declined such overture, settling instead for Alhaji Ibrahim Modibo, who is from Gombe State.
President Obasanjo, it was reliably gathered, had wanted the position of Senate President to be zoned to the South-West. But the president-elect was said to have impressed it on the incumbent president, who is also the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees that it was not possible for the South West to have that slot.
Yar’Adua was said to have argued that if the South West, through Obasanjo, has occupied the position of party leader, it was unjustifiable for the same part of the country to produce the number four in the hierachy of leaders in government and party.
Obasanjo, it was also learnt, had given notice of effectively using his party office as chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees as he was said to have sought to supervise (maybe by proxy ministers) these federal ministries, works, communications, finance and foreign affairs. Yar’Adua, who was said to have been very uncomfortable with such requests, diplomatically short circuited his political mentor’s request.
The president-elect, it was gathered, increaed the number of minsiterial slots to Atiku to 10 from the seven which he had earlier, through an emissary, proposed to the vice president to make him to support his government.
Atiku, sources informed, rebuffed Yar’-Adua’s overture to him, contending that he would have nothing to do with the Katsina-born presi-dent’s government because when he (Atiku) invited him to be on the side of those who kicked against the alleged third term gambit of Obasanjo, he refused, adding that Yar’Adua should go and learn to face up to his challenges with the outgoing president.
At press time, it could not be ascertained what manner of overtures Yar’Adua made to General Babangida and General Buhari and what their responses were.
