REPORT: How Tinubu Rejected Offer to be Nigeria's Vice President Under Jonathan's Proposed Interim Government
Category: Nigerian National News
By Empowered Newswire New York
David Mark, Gusau, Abdusalami, are the top contenders to head the Interim Government. Former Lagos Governor Tinubu rejects offer of Interim Government Vice-Presidency
Related Posts via Categories:
By Empowered Newswire New York
David Mark, Gusau, Abdusalami, are the top contenders to head the Interim Government. Former Lagos Governor Tinubu rejects offer of Interim Government Vice-Presidency
More details are emerging on the plot to install an undemocratic Interim
National Government (ING) and pre-empt Nigeria’s presidential election
scheduled for later this month.
Informed sources disclosed over the weekend that a key element in the
plot is the need to forestall a Buhari presidency, for which reason the
schemers of the plot have tried to woo the former Lagos State Governor,
Bola Tinubu, now a chieftain of the opposing All Progressives Congress
(APC) with the offer of being the Vice President in the interim
structure.
Even though there are now major obstacles to the plan, it is yet unclear if the schemers have completely set the idea
aside. If Tinubu accepts, then he will be expected to rally the
South-West, while IBB would rally the North, and Jonathan the South-East
and South-South to accept the idea of an interim administration. They
will use the excuse that the present times are not good to hold
elections inthe country, especially because of what David Mark had already called a state of war with Boko Haram.
But it was Tinubu’s rejection of any form of compromise that now
appears to be the greatest obstacle to the ING plot. Sources say this
explains the recent outburst of Femi Fani-Kayode, the Goodluck Jonathan
Campaign spokesperson alleging that the former Lagos State Governor
intends to take over presidential power after the generally-awaited
victory of the Buhari-Osinbajo campaign at the polls.
Fani-Kayode wildly alleged that Tinubu has entered into an oath to
compel Osinbajo to relinquish the office of VP to him after the
election, an allegation and scenario that watchers of the Nigerian
polity simply dismiss as both untenable and unrealistic.
Investigations spanning over one week by Empowered Newswire on the
interim government plot revealed that the two major schemers in the plot
are the President himself, Dr. Jonathan, and former Military president
Ibrahim Babangida.
IBB, as he is popularly known, has told close aides that he would
have to leave Nigeria the day Buhari is declared winner of the
presidential election, a prospect he is working hard to avoid by all
means. Jonathan is also said to be under intense pressure to negotiate a
soft landing for from power since handing over to Buhari would likely
expose the intense corruption that he and the Petroleum Minister Diezani
Maduekwe, among others, have perpetrated.
In fact the oil minister is said to be one of the hardest
protagonists of a soft landing for the Jonathan presidency, mortally
afraid of what a Buhari-Osinbajo ascendancy could mean for her.
Knowledgeable Empowered Newswire sources confirm that IBB held two
meetings with Tinubu to discuss the issue of the Interim National
Government. The first was held in Lagos before the Council of State
meeting the week before the February 14 elections were postponed. The
second took place in Abuja home of IBB’s son on the night of the said
Council of State meeting.
The sources said that for the first meeting, IBB told Tinubu he had a
wedding in Lagos and would like to use that opportunity to greet the
former Lagos State Governor. Arriving with his son, he told Tinubu about
the need to proceed with an interim government and forget about the
election. Tinubu, who was shocked at the proposition, reportedly told
IBB to forget the idea.
But on the night after the Council of State meeting in Abuja which
considered the subject of the readiness of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the election, IBB again invited
Tinubu to his son’s house in Abuja. At that meeting, former Head of
State General Abdusalami was also present, and to the utter shock and
annoyance of the former Lagos State Governor, President Jonathan showed
up in a two-car convoy in the thick of the night.
It was at that meeting that IBB and Jonathan promised Tinubu the slot
of the Vice President in the Interim government. The sources say Tinubu
promptly repeated his rejection of the idea, insisting that the
elections are the best and only viable option to choose Nigeria’s next
president and vice president.
The interim government plan includes the cancellation of the
elections and the imposition of a well-known Northerner as the head of
the administration, with Tinubu as VP. The interim government will be
put in place for two years, following which new elections would be
conducted, with the definite exclusion of Buhari.
Another source revealed to Empowered Newswire that some of the names
that have been mentioned as possible heads of the interim government
include David Mark, the president of the Senate; General Aliyu Gusau,
the current Defence Minister who has always wished to be president “even
if for a day”; and Abdusalami Abubakar, also a former head of state.
All three are known allies of IBB. But the name of former president
Olusegun Obasanjo was also thrown into the picture when a formal
statement from the presidency signed by Dr. Ruben Abati said Obasanjo
himself wanted to be head of the Interim govt.
Observers say that formal statement by the president’s spokesperson
is the best confirmation that indeed interim governmentG plot is real.
Said one source, “If the presidency is saying they know that Obasanjo
wanted to be the head of the Interim government, that means the
presidency is not only aware of such plans, but is also involved in such
a plot.”
There had been previous attempts including monetary and other juicy
offers to get Tinubu to prevent the emergence of Buhari in the
primaries, and after that, to have Tinubu dump Buhari and enter into a
deal with Jonathan to frustrate the potential emergence of Buhari as
winner of the presidential polls.
Sources believe that the recent wild allegation from the Jonathan
camp that Tinubu was planning to force Osinbajo to relinquish the office
of VP after being sworn-in is merely an outcome of the frustration
generated first by Tinubu’s insistence that the elections must go on;
his rejection of the offer from Jonathan to be VP of an Interim
government for two years; and finally his insistence never to dump
Buhari.
It is believed that Prof Osinbajo, Buhari’s running mate, has
actually never been asked to sign any undertaking or oath of any kind
and that he accepted the party and Buhari’s offer to be VP
unconditionally. Both he and the APC also over the weekend formally
denied any such arrangements.
In the absence of a key figure in the South-West to support and sell
the idea of an Interim government, sources said options left on the
table is to ensure the elections are “decently rigged” in favor of
Jonathan or a crisis precipitated that will lead to Jonathan handing
over power to David Mark as the Senate President, as was the case in the
First Republic when power devolved to Senator Nwafor Orizu in the
absence of the then President Nnamdi Azikiwe. In that scenario, in 1966,
the elected civilian leaders had to voluntarily hand over power to the
military.
Speculations, backed by a comment by the Supervising Minister of
Information Edem Duke, are rife that the INEC chairman, Professor
Attahiru Jega, may be asked to proceed on terminal leave sometime this
month in line with civil service rules. This option, sources say, would
boost the plan to “decently rig the election” in the incumbent
president’s favor.
But several legal opinions have been articulated that not only will
such a move by the federal government to remove Jega be
unconstitutional, it would also rubbish the credibility of the entire
electoral process and will result in a definite tailspin into national
and international crisis.
- Singer Nneka, on CNN Says Seun Kuti and Many Social Rights Singers "Are Not Cool" With GEJ
- Hunger Turns Nigerian Youth into Street Comedian, Strips Naked to Amuse Crowd (Photos)
- Indonesia Set to Execute 2 Nigerians and Others For Drug Trafficking
- See The Real Picture of Sir Adeyemi Osinbajo, The Father of Prof Yemi Osinbajo
- Why PDP Wants Jega Out!
- PDP Campaigners Blame APC For Fuel Scarcity
- Bola Tinubu drags AIT to court
- BITTER POLITICS! Femi Fani Kayode Writes Nasty About Tinibu and Lai Mohammed
- Na Wa O! See How PDP Thugs Beat Up SSA Who Tore His Party Card
- PDP Campaigners Blasts Osinbajo For Abandoning His Father in a Terrible State in The Village (See Picture)
You have good story to publish, please send to admin@ackcity.net
Be Our Fan On Facebook
Follow Us @ACKCITY On Twitter
Want updates via;
BB: 2924A048
WhatsApp: +2348034463786
Need a good platform to Advertise your products & services;
Call: +2348088538618, E-mail: admin@ackcity.net
What's your view? Leave comment(s)
Be Our Fan On Facebook
Follow Us @ACKCITY On Twitter
Want updates via;
BB: 2924A048
WhatsApp: +2348034463786
Need a good platform to Advertise your products & services;
Call: +2348088538618, E-mail: admin@ackcity.net
What's your view? Leave comment(s)
No comments