A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nasir El-Rufai, has revealed that ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo, had resolved in the 2011 election to support General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) as presidential candidate.
El-Rufai, in his upcoming memoir titled “The Accidental Public Servant,” said Obasanjo planned to shove off President Goodluck Jonathan from clinching the presidency, as he believed he was incompetent for the job. The book, which chronicled El-Rufai’s years in the presidency as head of the Bureau of Public Enterprises and later as minister, divulged several political intrigues during the eight-year presidency of Obasanjo.
El-Rufai recalled that Obasanjo, as part of the grand scheme, offered to resign his chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party and also fund the opposition coalition against Jonathan.
According to the former minister, Obasanjo wanted to hit back at Jonathan over row in the Ogun state chapter of the PDP that saw Obasanjo’s men edged out.
The author said his former boss summoned him on January 25, 2011 in Abuja and briefed him on his intention to support the candidacy of Buhari, if he agreed to pick Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as his running mate.
He also advised the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to merge with the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in order to provide a formidable opposition.
Another condition given by Obasanjo was for the CPC to zone the Senate presidency to the South-West to enable them secure the backing of the then Lagos state Governor, Bola Tinubu.
El-Rufai said: “Obasanjo said that he concurred with my earlier belief that Jonathan would not make a competent president and that the best presidential candidate of the whole lot was Buhari. He expressed willingness to support Buhari and go public with it if CPC and Buhari are willing to consider his suggestions and implement them.
“Obasanjo suggested that I should convince Buhari to pick Ngozi as his running mate, enter immediately into an alliance with the ACN and ANPP, and then offer the Senate president’s position to the South-west to secure Tinubu’s support.”
El-Rufai explained that when he took Obasanjo’s words to Buhari, he and the CPC leader doubted the sincerity of the president and therefore resolved to treat the gesture with a pinch of salt.
However, by February 2011, when “a weird Federal High Court ruling had restored the tickets of Iyabo Obasanjo and other members of their faction in Ogun state,” Obasanjo backed out of his earlier commitment to support Buhari.
The book is scheduled for release in a few weeks.
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