The ‘Attention Seeking’ Obasanjo
Anytime Chief Olusegun Obasanjo talks, the Presidency shivers and either Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, or Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, will respond to Chief Obasanjo and they will call him all sorts of unprintable names. One of them has even said that Obasanjo is seeking attention and has no electoral value. If Obasanjo is inconsequential, why do they shiver anytime Obasanjo talks about the colossal failure of Muhammadu Buhari-led administration?
The same Obasanjo that has no electoral value was visited by the crème-de-la-crème of All Progressives Congress at the Ota’s Residence of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo. They all gathered under the feet of Obasanjo to request his support with their flowing Agbada. At the meeting, they called him their “Navigator” and said his support will catapult them to electoral victory. He supported them and Buhari won, but he is now useless to the APC political juggernauts. What has changed?
Obasanjo is now a devil since he has declared his support for his former estranged Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
If you are a keen watcher of Nigeria’s political scenes, you should not be surprised by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo registering support for the presidential aspiration of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Atiku would not have emerged as the People’s Democratic Party Candidate without the backing of the retired Generals, otherwise known as Board of Directors, Nigeria Plc. Do not allow anyone to deceive you, the retired Generals are extremely influential. They still wield enormous influence in the country, like the Egyptian Old Generals; and Obasanjo leads that cabal.
Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, the Governor of Sokoto state, would have won at the PDP Convention held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Governor Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose supported his aspirations and supported him with funds. He would have emerged as the PDP Presidential flagbearer, but the Generals changed the political alignment in that convention. The presence of Aliyu Gusau switched the power play at the historic convention of the nation’s main opposition party. Aliyu Gusau was the one who conveyed the decision of the Generals to PDP stalwarts. Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Babangida, Theophilus Danjuma et al did not stand aloof during the PDP Presidential Primaries. The old guards changed the political trajectory.
Who is Aliyu Gusau? He served as the Director-General of the defunct National Security organization (what is now known as State Security Services). He has been a Chief of Army Staff, National Security Adviser, Minister of Defense. He is very powerful among the political circle, and he is Nigeria’s longest surviving spymaster. Give it to him, he is an enigma.
Obasanjo sent him to the Convention Ground. The election is fast approaching, and we will see if he is just a lousy elder statesman, as Presidency tells us regularly. The clock is ticking!