Two of Nigeria's longest ruling dictators and political hawks, Generals Ibrahim Babangida and Olusegun Obasanjo seem to be mending their broken fences after long months of acrimony over power and allocation of resources in Nigeria. It is reported Babangida is now working for Obasanjo's political survival.
The Nigerian Tribune reports that IBB is now scheming against plans by some aggrieved members of the ruling PDP to remove Obasanjo as the board of trustees chairman
One of the political associates of Babangida, Mr. Nasir Sani Yar’Adua, told the Nigerian Tribune that the PDP would not dispense with Obasanjo as the BOT chairman with support from a politician like Babangida.
He said Obasanjo still enjoyed support from members of the party like General Babangida whom he said had always been rising to his support at crucial times.
Yar’Adua said contrary to general impression, both Obasanjo and Babangida had been relating meaningfully, having come a long way in the services of Nigeria.
IBB, he said, was not fighting with anyone, stressing that the supposed frosty relationship between him and Obasanjo was a media creation.
He, however, denied knowledge of moves by Babangida to save Obasanjo from being removed as the BOT chairman of the PDP.
He said Babangida would not involve himself in the PDP politics in a personal manner, describing him as a team player whom he said preferred due process that would allow a credible election in the party at any level.
He said the PDP had an internal mechanism to determine which of its members got what at any point in time.
However, facts have started emerging about a plot by the aggrieved Northern politicians to ease former President Obasanjo from the office of Board of Trustees of the PDP.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Ghali Na’Abba, has raised a forum of former members of the National Assembly to whittle down Obasanjo’s influence in the ruling party before its forthcoming national convention.
Mallam Umar Farouk, Secretary of the Northern Coalition for Democracy and Justice, disclosed this to the Nigerian Tribune, stating that the game plan by the North was to ensure the victory of a former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, at the PDP’s national convention fixed tentatively for January 5.
The forum of the former National Assembly members is currently headed by an ex-House of Representatives member, Honourable Segun Damiro, one of Na’Abba’s right hand men in his days as the speaker.
At the moment, members of the forum are said to be busy mobilising support for Anyim against his perceived main contender, Dr. Sam Egwu, former governor of Ebonyi State.
The forum, according to Farouk, was banking on a possible support for Anyim by National Assembly members who form part of the electorate at the PDP convention to achieve the agenda.
Anyim’s disposition to the Northern agenda, according to investigations, is one reason why his candidature appears to enjoy overwhelming support from the politicians, the former Senate President having in the past engaged Obasanjo in a long duel during his tenure as the Senate President.
Findings revealed that after ensuring Anyim’s victory, an amendment of the constitution would be tabled with a view to removing Obasanjo as the party’s BOT chairman.
Obasanjo is generally considered as a threat to the interest of the North in the ruling party owing to what is believed to be his influence over the government of President Yar’Adua.
