Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, on Monday, received a former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, at his residence in Abuja.
This is coming after the 2023 Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, visited the former VP.
While the details of Bafarawa’s meeting with Atiku remained undisclosed, in early May 2024 that the former two-term governor had vowed that he would not contest for any elective office nor accept political appointments again.
However, Obi had also visited two other PDP bigwigs – former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and an ex-Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido; all in their Abuja homes.
Atiku, Obi hold first meeting after 2023 election
The Chief Spokesman for Obi’s Presidential Campaign Organisation, Yunusa Tanko, explained that the closed-door meeting with the PDP chieftains bothered discussions on how to rescue the ‘soul of Nigeria’ from the clutch of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Tanko said Obi’s “abiding devotion is to the emergence of a Nigeria that works for all its people and where the people are quickly pulled out of poverty. Worried about the state of the nation and the increasing uncertainty in the living conditions of the poor and underprivileged, Obi in Abuja on Monday visited some top Nigerians, among whom are former Vice President and PDP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar; the former Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki and the former Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Sule Lamido.
“At the centre of discussion during each of these visits was the state of the nation and how to reduce the suffering of all Nigerians irrespective of class and location. In particular, the desperate condition of the downtrodden in our midst was highlighted. Of particular interest and emphasis in these discussions was the worrisome situation in the Northern parts of the country.”
Atiku’s spokesperson, Paul Ibe, had accused the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of pursuing personal interests at the expense of the party’s collective goals, while also pointing fingers that Wike was partly responsible for Obi’s exit from the PDP.
Among other things, Ibe said, “Wike was also instrumental to Obi’s exit because Wike had promoted his zone of the presidency to the south. Atiku had said that he was prepared to get himself off the ticket if the party zones the ticket to the southeast.”
