The misunderstanding, which began soon after the election of
Jonathan in 2011, and gradually built up has emphatically positioned
Obasanjo as the rallying point of the opposition.
The rift has been largely attributed to alleged sidelining of
Obasanjo in the affairs of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and
the government. But pro government sources insisted it was the
inability of the former president to dictate the tone of Jonathan’s
government, control, and ultimately draft in another protégé to take
over from him in 2015 that nurtured and sustained it.
To show his disenchantment with the scheme of things, Obasanjo
resigned his chairmanship of the party’s Board of Trustees (BOT) in
2012, and has since then openly aligned with opponents of Jonathan’s
administration. His associates within the party especially in the three
geo-political zones of the North have since teamed up with him leading
to large scale defections from the party to the budding All Progressives
Congress (APC). Although the former president is yet to join the APC,
there are clear indications that he may likely do that as soon as some
conditions before the party were met. The prime condition is to be given
the capacity to influence the selection of the presidential candidate
of the party, while the candidate in turn picks his running mate,
unfettered. The leadership of the APC, at the moment is not settled on
the demand especially as it would obfuscate the vision and streamlined
objective of wresting power from the PDP. Although the APC is desperate
to clinch power next year, it is a bit careful not to go into crises
before its convention, especially when so many political heavyweights
are jockeying to fly the party’s banner.
A party source confided in Sunday Sun that, “The matter has never
been brought up formally at any meeting of any organ of the party.” The
source, however, acknowledged the demand, but described it as “mere
rumour.” As the battle to remove the obstacles in the APC before the
former president rages, there are indications that Jonathan’s planned
declaration to run for president in April may prove to be the oyster. In
a bid to stop Jonathan from what he considers an impossible mission,
Obasanjo has accelerated moves to railroad influential political and
ex-military heavyweights in the North into his project.
Obasanjo is trudging on with an iron cast determination to
frustrate Jonathan’s re-election bid. Part of his new plan is to
accentuate criticisms of the government of Jonathan, throw up the warts
and engender anti-Jonathan sentiment across the nation. Upon Jonathan’s
formal declaration, he will most likely dump the PDP and lead the
presidential campaign of the APC, especially in the South-west and North
where the party has its stronghold. An aide to the president told
Sunday Sun that government has been aware of the plot.
While some Northern leaders prefer to remain passive and watch the
unfolding events, others are singing different tunes. This has greatly
reduced apprehension in the camp of Jonathan as he prepares to
re-contest.
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