Date Published: 04/14/11

Buhari, Shekarau, Ribadu meet, plot to stop Jonathan

Muhammadu Buhari	Nuhu Ribadu	Ibrahim Shekarau

Three presidential candidates from the Northern part of the country, General Muhammadu Buhari, Ibrahim Shekarau, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu met Wednesday night in Abuja to brainstorm on how to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from winning the presidential election slated for Saturday.

Katsina-born Buhari is the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) candidate, Kano-born Shekarau, All Nigeria Peoples Party’s (ANPP) and Ribadu, who hails from Adamawa State, is the presidential candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria’s (ACN). On his part, Jonathan is the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate and hails from Bayelsa State, South-south Nigeria.

ACN had a few hours before Ribadu met with Buhari and Shekarau ruled out the possibility of an alliance with CPC or ANPP, insisting that each party be allowed to face Jonathan as presently structured.

"We as a party that believes in democratic values have therefore decided that in the overall interest of the parties involved, our democracy as well as our country, it is better for each of the parties to go into the presidential election on its own platform," ACN national chairman, Chief Bisi Akande said in a statement.

CPC insiders disclosed that the meeting became inevitable in the wake of last weekend’s parliamentary elections in which the three parties were believed to have performed below projections, particularly in the North.

“It has dawned on the hardliner Buhari that unless something is done fast he may never be able to meet the constitutional requirement to be elected president” explained one of his aides.

“Sections 133 and 134 makes it clear that, in addition to polling the highest number of votes, a candidate seeking the office of President must also poll at least a quarter or 25 per cent of at least two-thirds of all the states and the FCT.

“From the look of things, even if GMB (Buhari) polls the highest number of votes from our target Northwest states, he still needs 25 per cent of the votes from at least 25 states. Now, we have 19 states in the North. Even if they all vote us, we still shall fall short of the 25 percent of 25 states required by the constitution,” he lamented.

On what the meeting may have achieved, a close friend of Buhari, a former Head of State, offered that “the election is on Saturday and you can bet that from now till then is a long time; anything is possible.” On the possibility of Ribadu and Shekarau stepping down for Buhari, he returned, “tomorrow is in God’s hands. Let’s wait and see.”

Reminded of the official position of ACN, the CPC supported maintained that what was of importance for the North was how to protect their political interests. “We wear the shoes as it were. We know where it pinches the most. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, the North is going into an election with no clear political direction,” he said.

“The South –west has ACN, the South-east and South-south, PDP. What party can you say the North has? We are at best confused. In the Senatorial elections Kano voted PDP, Katsina, CPC and Yobe, ANPP. What do we hope to gain from this? We in the North are in a very precarious political situation which the so-called political elders plunged us in,” he regretted.

Last Saturday’s elections had shocked many analysts. They had predicted a huge loss for PDP. However, as it has turned out PDP still commands a very comfortable majority in the National Assembly which some fear may pose a problem for Buhari or Ribadu, in the even either of them win the presidential election.
Currently, PDP has won 58 or more than 50 per cent of the 109 senate seats. By contrast, ACN has so far won 14 seats in the senate, and CPC six.

Backers of CPC and CAN are said to be particularly awed that PDP swept (a phrase ironically popular with ACN) all the senatorial seats in Ribadu’s Adamawa State, neighboring Taraba, Jigawa and Kebbi. Kwara and Kogi. Pro-Buhari politicians are said to be disturbed that PDP won two seats in Sokoto, a state that prides itself as “The Seat of the Caliphate,” Kano, Gombe and Borno states.

In the House of Representatives, PDP has so far won 140 seats compared to 52 by ACN and CPC’s 35. More disturbing for the ACN and CPC, said a former minister is what he dubbed the “regional pattern” of their victories.

“Take CPC, for example. This party did not produce any senator in the entire southern part of Nigeria, ditto for the House of Representatives. On its part ACN may be said to have fared better, but not too different from CPC. Of its 14 senators-elect, 13 are from the old Western region. Of the 52 seats won by ACN in the House of Representatives, 46 are in the old Western Region.

Pointblanknews.com gathered that pressure had been on Ribadu and Shekarau prior to the last weekend’s parliamentary election to join forces with Buhari, but that Wednesday’s meeting may have been facilitated by a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. The former minister, a close friend of Ribadu, had graced a press conference by Buhari few hours before the meeting.

A High Court sitting in Abuja had three weeks ago ruled that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was right in arraigning el-Rufai for graft and abuse of office while in office as minister. The court however granted him bail on self recognition, and adjourned the matter to 17th May, 2011.

El-Rufai, who was on self-exile until the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua last May is said to be a CPC financier and may be assigned the ministry of education in the event Buhari wins on Saturday.