Politics

2019: Jonathan welcomes Atiku to PDP, gives him hard advice about Obasanjo

Published

9 years ago

November 13, 2017

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has advised ex-V.P Atiku Abubakar to kiss and make up with his former boss Olusegun Obasanjo and hop into the PDP if the 2019 presidency means so much to the APC stalwart.

According to Jonathan in an interview published by Ovation, any “politician who ignores Obasanjo does so at its own peril”.

He said Atiku’s chances of becoming President in 2019 would be bright if he contested on PDP’s platform.

He, however, stressed that he must do everything to get Obasanjo’s endorsement, who, he said, had the magic wand and remained respected home and abroad.

“He (Atiku) can’t get the APC ticket. If Atiku gets our party (PDP) ticket, he would compete well,” Jonathan said in the interview.

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“He’s always a passionate politician. But he would have to reach out to our boss, Baba OBJ, the boss of all bosses.

“We’ve all learnt at different times that you ignore OBJ at your own peril. OBJ has the magic wand, respected at home and abroad,” Jonathan said.

Atiku was Obasanjo’s vice-president during Obasanjo’s eight years administration. But they endured a deep and lasting rift that even continued well after they left office.

The rift was connected to Atiku’s antagonism to Obasanjo’s alleged third-term bid.

Atiku has however been getting the backlash of that crisis as Obasanjo has indirectly been opposed to his attempt to govern Nigeria.

He has been contesting at both primary and presidential levels for more than a decade now.

Part of his preparation for the 2019 attempt is to sell restructuring to Nigerians, a promise his party made but now unable to fulfil.

Heeding Jonathan’s advice will be hard tough for him because Obasanjo has said nothing prevent incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari from running again.