BY IKECHUKWU AGADA
As the 2023 Presidential campaign wore new look, Extensive investigations reveal that Buhari and the cabal reached an understanding and struck a deal with Atiku.
In the deal agreement according multiple sources, Atiku will be supported to become the President but will not be critical of the APC administration during the electioneering campaigns.
Atiku obliged and kept his end of the bargain against the wishes of many PDP top guns who were privy to the details of the gentleman understanding with the President and his men. Other political associates close to Atiku were also uncomfortable with the arrangement and expressed misgivings but he was steadfast. He ensured the failures of the Buhari administration were not made the talking points of his campaign. The focus was placed on Tinubu instead.
Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, a former Vice President of Nigeria under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] from 1999 to 2007, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration recently lost his fifth attempt at becoming the President of Nigeria in the just concluded Presidential elections of February 25, 2023.
An election he lost to the All Progressive Congress [APC] candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu by a margin of nearly 2millions votes according to the results released by INEC.
Further investigations show that the cabal around the President successfully sold Atiku’s candidacy rather than a Tinubu Presidency to him. The Aso Cabal include – Sabiu Tunde Yusuf, Maman Daura, Abubakar Malami, Ibrahim Gambari, Adamu Adamu, Sani Zangon Daura, Yau Darazo, Boss Mustapha amongst others. Tinubu was not their candidate. They saw him as a threat who cannot be controlled.
Buhari, then bought into the idea of supporting an Atiku Presidency based on pressure from the cabal and he agreed to take steps to achieve it.
According to one of the sources who spoke in confidence, several meetings were set up for Buhari to meet with Atiku. “He met Buhari four separate occasions to discuss the terms and conditions on how he would be helped to become the next Nigeria’s President after Buhari.
Buhari extracted commitment that his legacies will be protected; his name and administration too, that Atiku will not be critical of the APC or the Buhari administration during the campaigns and post- campaign period.”
Atiku was enthused and jumped into the enticing offer. He appreciated the cabal’s gesture. The news was exciting to him. Without hesitation, Atiku signed on to the concerns of the cabal and obliged to play by the rules. He recalled that he had played one of the critical roles in the ousting of the then President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. He had provided the bulk of the financing for the Presidential campaign of the then new formed APC. Atiku was a member of the APC and had aspired for the Presidential ticket but lost to Buhari.
President Buhari, the cabal and Atiku struck and sealed the deal. This agreement was reached shortly after the APC Presidential primary held on June 8, 2022 where Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged as the Presidential flagbearer with 1271 delegate votes against his closest rival, Rotimi Amaechi, who scored 316 delegate votes. Tinubu was not Buhari or the cabal’s choice.
As the Presidential campaign gained momentum, Atiku carried on, wearing the rules of the deal like badge and kept his end of the bargain just to make sure he achieves his aim. Atiku was solid and beyond doubt that the agreement would deliver the Presidency to him.
“He had no doubt”. He had confidence in the assurance given to him. To the extent he threw caution to the wind, financially. “He brought cash and he spent it without fear. He did not see the expenses as a risk. He sold his share in Apple Corporation, he sold some of his Prime Real Estates in Nigeria and even borrowed money from a top Southeast billionaire, to the tune of $30million”.
The financing of the PDP Presidential campaign was provided by the Presidential candidate and the Vice-Presidential candidate, who was alleged to have used the resources of the Delta State government for that purpose. Against the political terrain roughened by the emergence of the five PDP Governors [G-5] who were anti-Atiku, and the well-financed APC Presidential campaign, Atiku significantly cranked up the campaign spending as November 2022 rolled around to further douse the impact on the campaign, particularly from the G-5 – comprising of the Governors of Enugu, Benue, Oyo, Abia and Rivers States.
While Atiku successfully fluidized the financing of the PDP Presidential campaign, the campaigners had their demands. They wanted critical analysis of the Buhari administration and the perceived APC maladministration to be carried out ‘without mercy’ to highlight the corruption under the leadership of Buhari. But Atiku remained resolute, hinting that the “Villa is with us”. “Atiku should have used Buhari’s failures against APC and Tinubu. Bashing Buhari and constantly talking about his failures and that of APC was the way to go. I warned them but they refused. Atiku was played like a kid” said a one of the PDP leaders from the Northwest Geopolitical zone.
He added that Buhari had no intentions to support Tinubu. He had reservations about him, but was pressured into supporting Tinubu through last minute high wire politicking and horse-trading by the First Lady and APC Governors . They sold a lot of dummy to the President, reminding him of the negative implications of taking power back to the north. These governors had an understanding with Tinubu to return power back to them after his tenure. This discovery, according to some sources, led the President to step down his resistance to a Tinubu Presidency. “ Then Buhari soft-pedaled and decided to play ball”. However, it did not come easy to get Buhari to turn away from Atiku. It was intensive and extensive power play.
It took a combination of the APC Governors, APC Benefactors and Buhari’s immediate family especially the First Lady, who used blackmail and other forms of cohesion to tame Buhari’s disdain for Tinubu’s Presidential ambition. Buhari’s children and wife had knowledge of the backdoor alliance and/or agreement with Atiku but were not in support. Buhari’s immediate family supported Bola Tinubu. They had benefited financially from him over the years and vowed to pay him back.
According to an informed source, Aisha would disclose classified information to the APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu concerning the outcome of the meetings and plans of the Aso Rock cabal to stop him. So, as Atiku campaigned across the regions, assured of the pledge from the cabal and the President, he was sure not to breach the agreement. He publicly supported the Naira Policy miwifed by the cabal though unpopular, but he believed the policy was designed to favor him over Tinubu. To this extent, when Tinubu and other APC leaders complained, he called for calm instead.
Unknown to him, the agreement had been undermined by ‘Superior Forces’ around Buhari led by the First Lady and APC Governors. The rest was history.
The Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] under the control of Professor Yakubu Mahmood conducted the Presidential election of February 25, 2023 with the President backing his party the APC. The outcome shocked and pained Atiku as it reflected a breach of agreement. According to a very close source of the Waziri of Adamawa, “Atiku was misled, tricked and letdown”. “Waziri is pained”.
