President Goodluck Jonathan paid a secret visit to former Vice President Abubakar Atiku on Friday night to hold a meeting that lasted till the early hours of Saturday.
Sources at the Presidency told Sahara Reporters that Mr. Jonathan went to Mr. Atiku’s home with the aim of persuading the former VP to lead a so called interim government of national unity that the president has been covertly attempting to sell to numerous political figures in recent weeks.
One source said Mr. Jonathan and some hawkish members of his inner circle, including Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, First Lady Patience Jonathan, Governors Olusegun Mimiko and Ayo Fayose of Ondo and Ekiti respectively, as well as senior presidential aide Doyin Okupe, have decided that handing over power to Muhammadu Buhari “is out of the question.”
Several electoral monitoring groups are projecting that Mr. Buhari, a retired army general and the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is the odds-on favorite to win the March 28 presidential election.
When SaharaReporters reached Mr. Atiku, he expressed surprise that we knew about his meeting with President Jonathan. He asserted that the idea of his heading an interim government did not come up during the long discussion with the president.
Mr. Atiku said he had retired to bed when he was woken up and told that President Jonathan had come to see him, adding that the president was already waiting in his living room.
After denying that he was asked to head an interim government, the former vice president admitted that Mr. Jonathan tried to prevail on him to rejoin the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He disclosed that he rejected the invitation outright.
Source: Sahara
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