Buhari, Tinubu, Akande, Others Meet Atiku, To Meet Obasajo

As reported by Information Nigeria,
prominent leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday paid a visit toformer Vice President Atiku Abubakar at
his private residence in Asokoro, Abuja. The APC leaders, who went into a closed door meeting with the former VP which lasted for over an hour, described the meeting as a continuation of the party’s
consultations with past leaders and
stakeholders across the nation.
The APC delegation included a former head of state, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd);
former Lagos State governor and national leader of the APC; Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the party’s Interim National Chairman; Chief
Bisi Akande. The meeting follows Wednesday’s defection
of 37 members of the ruling Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives to the APC. Speaking on the outcome of the meeting,
Gen. Buhari disclosed that the APC was working on modalities to meet with former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
According to the three-time presidential hopeful, “We have the intention of meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo as
soon as he is available so that we will tell
him how we evolve APC.“And then, we will ask for his understanding and cooperation. This is what we have been doing”.
Atiku, who spoke at the meeting, said that a
strong opposition was necessary in every democracy to checkmate the activities of the government in power. On apparent calls by the APC leaders to him
to join their fold, Atiku said that he would meet with his friends and political associates
with the view to taking a decision on the next line of action.
Atiku said: “We want to let you know that we
had very fruitful discussions and you know I have always believed in a two party
structure. “So I welcome the formation of APC. We
have discussed extensively and I will meet with my political associates and friends.
“Most of us have been friends and political associates for over two decades. I will call my stakeholders across the country. We will take a decision and address the press and let you know our decision.
“I congratulated them (APC leaders) and welcomed them because it will improve competition and governance. It is healthy for our democracy. “Once you have one very strong party and
weak ones, there is no way the opposition can check the government in power.
“If the South Africans faced apartheid in the
past, Nigeria is facing colonialism. The struggle has been long for the enthronement of democracy in our country.
“It is time we realised we have responsibility
to our generation and those yet unborn. I
think it (APC) will give Nigerians an
alternative during elections. So I told them I
will consult with my associates and brief the
press later”, he said.
Chief Akande, who led the parry’s delegation,
said the visit was to cement a long standing
political relationship with Atiku which spans
more than two decades.
“We feel that it is necessary to meet people
of like minds to rise up and salvage the
country. All of us that met here were
comrades in politics.
“We only met today to cement that
comradeship and all is well cemented. We
are moving together to work for this
country”, Akande said.
It would be recalled that Atiku was the
presidential candidate of the defunct Action
Congress which later metamorphosed into
the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) one of
the three legacy parties that merged to give
birth to the APC.