Jonathan, PDP plot his removal as Speaker
A committee comprising top politicians from the National Assembly has been making consultations across the country to drum up support for the 2015 presidential aspiration of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
The 15-member committee, with membership drawn from the six geopolitical zones, is headed by an All Progressives Congress (APC) legislator from the North-Central.
It is not clear who is funding the committee which began operation at the beginning of March, but an authoritative source told New Telegraph in Abuja that there are plans to expand membership.
Already, the members, have visited APC leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Lagos, former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Ota, Ogun State, and former President Ibrahim Babangida in Minna, Niger State among other political heavyweights in the country.
The legislators are also billed to visit some state governors, mainly those in the APC and others in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), but who are considered to be sympathetic to the APC. They will also visit traditional rulers who are considered to be politically influential. A source close to the committee told New Telegraph that the members had very useful consultations in all the places they had visited. “I can tell you that the Speaker’s aspiration is being welcomed with enthusiasm in the areas they have visited, mostly in the South-West.
The enthusiasm there is, in fact, higher than in the North,” he said. However, the source said though Tinubu gave the committee a resounding reception, and did not reject its mission, the APC leader brought up the issue of Buhari, which took much of their time. “He asked the committee why they would not support Buhari. He said after all, Buhari contested when there was no much money and still won 12 million votes. He (Tinubu) said now that Buhari has governors and there is money, why won’t they support him,” the source said.
But after serious consultations and persuasion, Tinubu gave his approval of the Speaker but advised the committee to find a way of persuading Buhari not to contest the primaries because “he is not the kind of person that will be taken to Eagle Square and be defeated, the source said. He said once Buhari agrees to step down his aspiration, the APC strongman would be willing to support the Speaker’s project. “It was a very frank and fruitful discussion,” the source said.
According to him, the committee has also been to Ota in Ogun State and had talks with Obasanjo, whose political associates are reported to have been working for the APC lately. No details of the discussions were given but the source said “There was fruitful deliberation”. Also, New Telegraph on Saturday source did not give details of what transpired in Minna but said the visit to IBB ended the first round of the assignment before the Easter break.
He disclosed that the members would visit Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar in Sokoto, emirs of Kano and Zazzau, Tor Tiv, as well as other influential traditional rulers in the North before heading South. On his part, the Speaker has been criss-crossing the length and breadth of Nigeria consulting stakeholders on his ambition. He has personally visited former Heads of State, traditional rulers and stakeholders.
There are even permutations that one of the APC governors may be paired with him as presidential running mate in 2015. Governor Adam Oshiomhole is one of the likely figures being positioned as Tambuwal’s running mate in the event he gets the APC’s ticket.
Tambuwal has neither indicated that he will dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) nor has he publicly aspired for the presidency in 2015, but his romance with the top leadership of the opposition APC and his conspicuous absence at PDP rallies which had President Goodluck Jonathan in attendance recently, has fuelled speculations that the Speaker is getting set not to only dump the PDP but to seek the presidential ticket of the APC.
Though Tambuwal’s state governor, Aliyu Wamakko, dumped the PDP few months ago alongside four other state governors, the Speaker maintains close ties with the governor. He was by Wamakko’s side when the governor made a triumphant entry into Sokoto after he was suspended from the PDP. Contrariwise, Tambuwal was missing in Sokoto when Jonathan went to receive former governor, Attahiru Bafarawa, into the PDP recently. Some PDP supporters also believe that the manner in which the Speaker handled the defection of 37 PDP legislators to the APC was suspect.
In the Senate, where Senate President David Mark holds sway, defecting lawmakers only narrowly escaped having their seats declared vacant. Meanwhile, feelers from the National Assembly reveal that agents of the Presidency have begun penetrating the legislators with a view to plotting the Speaker’s removal from office. “It appears Jonathan is prepared to fight this time.
The PDP foresees that if the Speaker is left on that seat, he could cause substantial damage to President Jonathan’s 2015 ambition. So, Jonathan is ready to fight now,” a source told New Telegraph.
Source: New Telegraph
No comments:
Post a Comment