Controversy over Obasanjo, Saraki secret meeting

The visit of the Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki, to former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his Abeokuta residence could be said to be suspicious.

The visit, attended by only members of New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) and some senators loyal to Saraki added credence to the insinuation that the nPDP was plotting big in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It is being insinuated that the members of the nPDP led by a former acting National Chairman, of the PDP Kawu Baraje, might soon ditch the APC and rejoin their former party.
The claim has meanwhile been denied by Saraki and his supporters.
The meeting with Obasanjo has been interpreted to be a preparatory step by the APC chieftains to return to the PDP.

Journalists were barred from covering the meeting.

Both Obasanjo and Saraki, while emerging from the meeting, laughed while they whispered to each other.
Expectedly, none of the parties (Obasanjo and Saraki) wanted to divulge the details of the meeting which began at 9:10am immediately after the Senate President arrived the palatial home of the former President and ended 11:10 am.
But, there were some activities that took place prior to the secret meeting .
For instance, a day to the meeting, there was an insinuation that, Obasanjo might not attend to the Senate President.
To lend credence to this, the former President was said to have travelled out of the country.
It was reliably gathered that Obasanjo apparently travelled to Norway, but flew back to Nigeria the previous night to attend the meeting.
Many things had sparked off the controversy over the meeting. That Saraki was accompanied by some members of nPDP who defected to APC is believed not to be mere coincidence.
Saraki, a former governor of Kwara State and a former member of the PDP, had defected to the APC along with some aggrieved members of the party, including five governors, following irreconcilable differences between them and their former party leaders .
Their defection, political analysts believed, aided the victory of the APC at the general elections.
But, after their victory, there seems to be disagreements between the group and the APC on the sharing of some positions.
Findings showned that the group had wanted one of them to fly the APC flag at the presidential election, but, was blocked.
Also, the position of vice-president was not given to the group. After these, another attempt to shove the group aside in the leadership positions of the National Assembly hit the brick wall as one of them emerged Senate President.
Saraki ,who emerged the Senate President under controversial circumstances, was believed to have incurred the wrath of Obasanjo and other leaders of the party.
Obasanjo, though claimed he was not a member of APC, has ceased to be a member of the PDP and was seen as more of a member of APC.
All his ‘boys’ have defected to the APC while he hosts many leaders of the APC, including President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
At the initial stage of the campaign for the election of the Senate President, Saraki was not the preferred candidate of the party, but he refused to step down for the party’s choice, Ahmed Lawan, and he eventually emerged with 57 votes.
After his victory, he is believed to be mending fence with some party leaders.
Part of the moves was his meeting with former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.
But his choice to visit Obasanjo and not Tinubu is interpreted as extremely political and strategic.
According to an insider who did not want his name mentioned because he was not authorised to speak on the details of the meeting,Saraki’s visit was to lobby Obasanjo.
The source further said that the meeting was held to set agenda for the Senate President and to ensure the party embraces him despite his alleged insubordination.
According to the source, the meeting also centred on how to handle some sensitive issues at the National Assembly.
Obasanjo, according to the source, suggested some way out on the logjam and how to be a successful Senate President.
Meanwhile, there was an indication that the leadership of APC might not have forgiven Saraki completely despite its statement of pardon issued recently.
The indication was that no APC leaders in the South-West, including the host state, Ogun, was seen with Saraki.
The tradition is that the host governor would either be physically present at the meeting or be represented. Apart from that, the Senate President would also pay a visit to the governor. None of these happened.
The governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was said to have travelled out of Abeokuta shortly before the meeting between Saraki and Obasanjo ended to attend a funeral ceremony in Ijebu.
This was unlike during the visit of a former Senate Present, Senator David Mark, to Obasanjo when many of the party (PDP) leaders were present.
Mark paid a visit to the governor who was not even a member of his party.
It was reliably gathered that there might have been a directive by the APC leadership to stay away from Saraki pending the resolution of some issues.
The party, according to the findings, may have reached out to Amosun and others in the South-West prior to the Saraki meeting with Obasanjo.
The Senate President, when asked to comment on the alleged disobedience to the APC directive on the choice of the candidate for the Senate President seat, kept mum.
However, he denied any rift between him and his party, saying the relationship was cordial.

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