Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is under pressure from close friends and political allies to support his erstwhile deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in his presidential bid.
According to them, Atiku remains one of the most qualified and ready candidates for the office of president ahead of 2019, and one who can give Buhari a run for his money.
In this regard, Obasanjo met with some leaders of his native South-west yesterday, in discussions that even involved some of his known political enemies.
National Daily gathered that Obasanjo’s Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM) which later metamorphosed into African Democratic Congress (ADC) has gone into more serious talks with equally critical socio-political and cultural groups in the country. Majority of them are believed to have bought into the idea of “changing the change” in 2019.
It was gathered that one of the organisations said to be ready to work with Obasanjo, Afenifere, is said to be discussing with Obasanjo the imperative of not closing the space on anyone on account of personal animosity, citing specifically the case of Atiku.
The reason Afenifere is believed to be making a case for Atiku, not as an automatic candidate of the alliance but one of the many aspirants to come together in collective interest, inside sources say, is his position on the issue of restructuring, which a majority of Afenifere members consider crucial to the future of a united Nigeria.
But sources said while Obasanjo had yet to give any positive response to the request to give Atiku a chance, he did not however maintain his familiar hard stance on the former vice president, a situation many interpreted to mean he might have begun to soft-pedal.
Obasanjo met with some leaders of his native South-west on Saturday, in discussions that even involved some of his known political enemies.
There were, however, indications that the meeting had a fruitful outcome. One of the participants stated, “It was positive.” This was as Mabogunje sang in the Yoruba dialect: “Why shouldn’t we be happy? It has gone exactly the way we want it to go.”
Although Obasanjo declined comments on the purpose of the meeting, his host, Adebanjo hinted that it was aimed at fostering peace and unity among the Yoruba leaders. According to him, the meeting is “nothing more than the fact that Nigeria must move forward. All attempts to establish dictatorial tendencies in the country must be opposed. There must be unity to destroy mediocrity and dictatorship.”