Guardian News - Houston, TX -
It’s fight
to finish as a cold war between the ex-dictator
and his
running mate gets worse by the hour
Complexities
behind an alleged cold war between the presidential candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC), General
Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), and his running
mate, Dr. Yemi Osinbajo are getting
worse, and have divided the campaign train into two combative segments,
International Guardian reliably gathered. A campaign senior officer who spoke
to our field reporters on strict anonymity confirmed the tension, and indicated
that Dr. Osinbajo and some of his close campaign allies have been excluded in
several major stakeholder meetings lately.
The war
between the two presidential partners started shortly after Buhari presented
Osinbajo, the professor of law and
former attorney general and commissioner for Justice in Lagos state, as his
running mate mid-December. Dr. Osibanjo
had expressed regrets that Buhari did not trust him but had no choice selecting
him because he was pressured by the party chieftains, including former Lagos
State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and a cohort of south west governors, Bisi Akande.
Another
bitter moment soon emerged in the same month when Buhari was speaking during a
campaign rally in Owerri, Imo State and wrongly introduced his running mate as
“Professor Yemi Osinbade.” The news permeated the social media fuelling
speculations that the ex-war lord may be battling age-related health issues. To
worsen the situation, the speculation that Buhari’s may not make it through a
four-year term if he won because of a visibly deteriorating health made it to
the media and fuelled a suspicious relationship between General Buhari’s camp
and Dr. Osibanjo. Buhari had allegedly accused the Tinubi/Osibanjo camp of
praying for his death – a situation similar to the late President Shehu Musa
Yar'Adua when critics accused former President Olusegun Obasanjo of nominating
a sick candidate to jeopardize chances allotted to the Northern zone in the
party.
Less than 10
days to the election, issues of lack of trust and collaboration between General
Buhari and Dr. Osibanjo has become even more noticeable. It was alleged that
Buhari’s camp secretly trails and records all campaign appearances by Dr.
Osibanjo to micromanage his strategies, speaking lines and comments.
Consequently, the General it was alleged
had summoned Dr. Osibanjo several times over comments and stories attributed to
him in the media, International Guardian reliably gathered.
The last
straw over a strained relationship occurred a few days ago after a secret
meeting between General Buhari and Chief Tinubu was revealed in the media. Tinubu, it was gathered had purportedly
negotiated with the General over
allocation of oil wells in the Niger Delta as compensation for electioneering
support and huge financial investment in the party from the stage of
negotiations for merger and registration as a political party to the entire
campaign engagements. Party stalwarts allied to Dr. Osibanjo were furious that
they were excluded from the meeting. Tinubu’s camp were also furious about the
outcome of the meeting which resulted in lengthy hours of horse-trading and
arguments. Buhari, it was alleged, had not been transparent with the group over
his collaboration and agreement with key members of the Northern Leaders
Political Forum. “Buhari has not
invested a kobo in this campaign from the word go and should not even talk in
this meeting,” an aggrieved member from Tinubu’s camp said.
As of press
time, Buhari’s campaign is reported to be in tatters, pitting two major groups
in a cold war over pre and post-election allocation of power and resources. Key
party members contacted by International Guardian’s campaign reporters declined
any categorical comments. “Parties do
have issues – yes we have issues just like other campaigns, but those will not
stop our victory come February 14” a member said. .
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