While the Peoples Democratic Party
administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan lasted, I did not see the
national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, inside
the Villa. I cannot say as a matter of finality that he did not come. This is
because experience has taught me that reporters can only see those authorities
want them to see. They can decide to receive visitors who do not want to
attract media attention at ungodly hours, which is always the time of nocturnal
meetings or meet such people in locations in the Villa that are strictly out of
bounds to journalists....
Since his party man, President
Muhammadu Buhari, came on board, it was taken for granted that the former
governor of Lagos State would be a regular face in the seat of power. But it
has never been so. The situation further fuelled speculations that he and the
President had fallen apart shortly after the March presidential election.
When news filtered in that the
President would be breaking his Ramadan fast on Wednesday with some APC chiefs
and that Asiwaju, popularly known as the Lion of Bourdillon, was among the
expected guests, journalists decided to stay back in case the former governor
turned up.
At about 6pm, the President’s
guests started arriving. Many of those who were part of the first set of guests
to arrive were not known faces. At a point, former governor of Rivers State,
Rotimi Amaechi, arrived. A former member of the National Assembly, Senator
Olorunimbe Mamora and some others also arrived. Not long after, we saw Asiwaju
from afar while he was scaling through the last security check. Behind him was
the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, and a few
others.
Venue of the event was the new
Banquet Hall. Some guests who had arrived earlier were standing at the lobby,
armed with fruits or cups of water or juice provided by the stewards. Some
others went to the mosque near the President’s office to offer prayers before
breaking their fast.
By the time Tinubu stepped into
the lobby, the atmosphere changed. Almost all the politicians standing there
wanted to greet and pose for photographs with him. With the exchange of
pleasantries over, the guests were led into the main hall. The former Lagos
State governor and Amaechi joined Buhari on the same table with another two
elderly men.
There was no room for wasting of
time. Immediately the opening prayer was said, it was time to eat. While others
were asked to walk to any of the two serving points to help themselves with any
of the food available, those on the President’s table were asked to remain
seated as stewards would serve them. Rice, pap, salad, tuwo, moin moin, dodo,
vegetable, fish pepper soup, fresh fish, snail and assorted meats featured
prominently on the menu. There were enough to eat.
With the “stomach infrastructure”
session over, Tinubu was asked to speak on behalf of the group. He thanked the
President for hosting them and promised continued support for his
administration. He had words for those accusing Buhari of being too slow. He
said the President could not clear PDP’s 16-year mess in 30 days.
Buhari also thanked his guests
for joining him at the event. He appreciated their contributions to his success
at the poll while tracing the history of the merger that gave birth to the APC.
His address marked the end of the
event. Tinubu was again asked to lead other guests out to the lobby where they
shook hands and posed for photographs with the President one after the other.
With that arrangement, Tinubu was the first person to step out of the building
after shaking hands with Buhari. He stepped into the waiting hands of reporters
who had laid ambush for him with their cameras.
The former governor was visibly
reluctant to speak with journalists, especially on the crisis rocking his party
as a result of the leadership crisis in the National Assembly. He had not
spoken publicly on the matter but it seemed we succeeded in boxing him into a
corner. He had to talk and he decided to choose his words carefully.
“That (the leadership crisis in
the National Assembly) is an area where I am very cautious of my position and
utterances. I still want to keep my side of interpretation or analysis to me to
be able to achieve a resolution of the matter as quickly as possible. I am
backing all the President has carefully enumerated and articulated to the
party. The party is supreme. The party must have disciplined leadership and
followers. The party’s process must be respected because that is the confidence
and the trust of the people,’ he went on and on as the tape kept rolling.
Tinubu also used the opportunity
of his first interview with State House correspondents to dispel rumours that
he and Buhari are no longer on the same page because of some demands he was
alleged to have made. “I have no demand on the party. If you understand what
party politics and leadership are all about, they are about loyalty and
commitment to the values that leadership believes in. I believe in what the
President believes in. I respect him and I stand firmly loyal to his cause. You
can go to any length of speculation that you might want. I have not responded
to all of that because I understand the President and the President understands
me clearly,” he said.
By the time the interview was
going on, many APC chiefs such as Chief Audu Ogbeh and others joined Tinubu.
One of his aides who joined him midway quickly started using his smartphone to
record the interview for reasons best known to him. It was the same man who
quickly said “thank you gentlemen” when his boss finished answering the third
question, a clever way of stopping the interview.
At the end of the short
interaction, APC chiefs still milled around Tinubu as he made his way out of
the premises.
Buhari and the PDP governors
Those who think that state
governors elected on the platform of the PDP may not be having the listening
ears of the President may have a rethink soon. I can say authoritatively that
apart from when he met all the 36 state governors and later met with APC
governors, most of those who have been having one-on-one meetings with Buhari
are PDP governors.
Last week, Governor Seriake
Dickson of Bayelsa State met with Buhari. This week, two PDP governors met
separately with the President. Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi met him on
Wednesday while it was the turn of Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State on
Thursday.
The three of them agreed that
elections were over and there was the need for all political gladiators to come
together with a common goal of improving the living conditions of those who
voted them into office.
All of them were however smart
enough to quickly explain in their encounters with State House correspondents
that their meetings with the President were not indications of any plan to
defect from the PDP to the ruling party.
Barka de Sallah.
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