Senate President Bukola Saraki, Govs and senators met in Kwara this week. Here's what that meeting was all about.
When governors and senators met in Kwara for the burial of Abubakar Kawu Baraje’s mum on Wednesday, July 18, 2018, they had bigger agendas on their minds—how to crown Saraki consensus presidential candidate of the PDP, just in time for the elective convention of the opposition party.
Baraje is a former national secretary and former acting national chairman of the PDP.
During the meeting, the politicians also discussed what time was best for some of them to formally announce their defection from the governing APC.
The meeting was attended by aggrieved members of the APC (now called R-APC) the splinter group of the PDP which staged a walkout from the Yar’adua center to join the APC in 2013 (now referred to as nPDP) and current members of the PDP.
Among those who attended the meeting (or burial, if you would) were Senate President Bukola Saraki, Kwara Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, Alhaji Sule Lamido, Sen Barnabas Gemade, Rivers Gov Nyesom Wike, PDP Chairman Uche Secondus, Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal, former presidential spokesperson Doyin Okupe, Senator Peter Nwaboshi, Benue Governor Samuel Ortom who has announced his exit from the APC and a host of other top politicians across the nation's geopolitical zones.
'It's all done now'
Various insider sources who spoke to Pulse on conditions of anonymity all through Wednesday, shared stories of a raging mutiny within the APC and how most of the governors and senators elected on the APC platform, have all but perfected plans to announce a mass defection sometime next week or in the days ahead.
The Kwara meeting was a dress rehearsal for a grand mass defection announcement, Pulse was told.
“They will soon announce their defection to the PDP”, a source who attended Wednesday’s meeting, disclosed to Pulse. “It’s all done now. You can quote me on this. About 5 governors will leave the APC and several senators will join Saraki to the PDP”.
Senate President Saraki’s possible defection to the PDP has been the subject of intense social media chatter and gossip for months now.
Saraki emerged senate president in spite of the APC and the former Governor of Kwara State continues to enjoy the unbridled support of PDP senators on the floor of the senate.
On a recent visit to Kwara, Saraki told his supporters that he will soon let them know where he’ll be pitching tent next, a remark that all but pointed to his defection. The senate president has always held that his trial for alleged false declaration of assets and corruption, was politically motivated.
”As I always say, time will come for everything, a time will come when I will tell people where I am, what I’m doing”, Saraki said as coyly as possible.
After the Kwara meeting, Rivers Governor Wike said the politicians had only assembled to bury Baraje’s mum but also stated that “of course when politicians meet like this, they talk about politics”.
'Being shown the way out of the APC'
Spokesperson of the Kwara Governor, Dr Muyideen Akorede, told Pulse on Wednesday evening that “Kwara State Governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed is yet to take a decision on his political future with the APC”.
Akorede however added that his principal and other politicians who met in Kwara “are being shown the way out of the APC”.
In an emailed statement, Akorede said: “The presence today in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, of the Senate President, His Excellency, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, PDP Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Governor Samuel Ortom , Governor Aminu Tambuwal and Governor Nyesom Wike, Ex Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa, Senator Lawal Shuaibu, Senator Barnabas Gemade and other prominent political figures was for the burial rites of the late mother of respected politician, Alh Kawu Baraje and was not for the purpose of a political realignment.
“While I have not been briefed on any planned defection, I am aware that my principal and other political leaders in the state are gradually being shown the way out of the APC”.
Another insider source told Pulse that Saraki will be backed for the PDP presidential ticket by the politicians who attended the meeting. Should this become the case, Saraki will be squaring up against Vice President Atiku Abubakar who will formally announce his presidential bid from the PDP platform on Saturday, July 21, 2018.
It was also not immediately clear if Sule Lamido and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso will be ditching their presidential ambitions for either of Saraki or Atiku.
Governors are a powerful bloc in Nigeria’s political scene as they often decide the delegates who choose party candidates at moneyed elective conventions.
nPDP meeting with Osinbajo breaks down
Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu who is Saraki’s spokesperson, wasn’t immediately available for a response, as calls placed to his mobile were not answered.
A meeting convened by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to address the grievances of the nPDP to which Saraki belongs, fell through.
Most of the politicians who attended Wednesday’s meeting have been very critical of President Muhammadu Buhari in recent times.
Buhari who has announced he’ll be seeking re-election on the APC platform, will now have formidable breakaway factions of his party and aggrieved members of the political class, to contend with.