November 26, 2017:
• Fayose, Lamido, Shekarau, Dankwambo, others may not step down for Atiku
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has one more hurdle to cross in his secret deal with some stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, according to The Nation.
It was learnt that Jonathan said Atiku must beg or apologize to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to get the 2019 presidential ticket of the PDP on a platter of gold.
Although Obasanjo has quit partisan politics, Jonathan was of the opinion that “he is still a strong factor in shaping the future of the nation in 2019 because he is a force among the revered kingmakers.”
Former President Jonathan had in early November told the publisher of Ovation magazine in an interview that “If Atiku gets our party ticket, he would compete well. But he would have to reach out to our boss, Baba OBJ, the boss of all bosses. We’ve all learnt at different times that you ignore OBJ at your peril. OBJ has the magic wand. He is respected at home and abroad.”
It was however unclear if Atiku has either accepted the condition or opted to go it alone in seeking the presidential mandate of the PDP.
But some presidential aspirants in PDP were said not to be ready to step down for Atiku, whom Jonathan is working to the answer for.
The aspirants said they prefer to slug it out with Atiku during the presidential primaries.
The affected aspirants are ex-Governor Sule Lamido, ex-Minister Ibrahim Shekarau, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo and a former governor (now a Senator), who is expected to defect from APC to PDP.
THE NATION