Former Vice President Abubakar Atiku’s bid to lead Nigeria as president in 2019, received a massive boost at the weekend as the Turakin Adamawa received strategic support from former military President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida popularly called IBB.
A source, who was privy to the meeting, told BusinessDay that the meeting in Minna, Niger State, was very “fruitful in furtherance of Atiku’s continued engagements and consultation, which has further strengthened the presidential bid of the former Vice President.”
The source added that the meeting with IBB has the potential to draw all other democratic forces angling to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019, especially the coming Grand Coalition of political parties and interest groups, which are said to be looking at Atiku’s direction to provide the political clout needed to oust what he called the “the unbelievable incompetence and clannish leadership of President Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).”
“Some of those angling for grand coalition have started looking at the direction of Atiku and I think it is the culmination of the interplay of forces, and the preponderance of opinion both of politicians and common people is that we are desirous of change and the person best wired to provide leadership is Atiku,” he said.
The source stressed that Atiku’s appeal cuts across regional and party lines and all manner of diversities adding that “Atiku is not a man you can pigeonhole in just one enclave; he is suited for the general desire of the Nigerian people to extricate the country from the backwardness the APC has plunged Nigerian masses.”
On the recent visit of another political heavyweight, Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso to Atiku, the source noted that the politics of the former Governor of Kano and his massive followership across the country is a plus to the Atiku presidential campaign, adding that Kwankwaso has the intention to back Atiku’s candidature in 2019.
When reminded that Kwankwaso isalso said to be eyeing the Presidency and could pose as a formidable rival of Atiku, the source noted that “Atiku does not see Kwankwaso as a rival, he can provide support for an Atiku candidacy in the general election.”
On the widely reported feud between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku, the source dismissed the purported feud is a “media creation”. He said “politicians don’t make enemies, they do not discountenance another. I think Obasanjo has realised the direction the pendulum is swinging and as a man who truly loves and has passion about Nigeria, he is also desirous to cast his lot with Atiku, who is best suited and best wired to extricate Nigeria from the pit into which the Buhari administration has thrown Nigeria politically, economically and socially.”
