Saturday, 14 December 2013
OBASANJO DISCUSSION WITH JONATHAN AT KENYA
More
facts have emerged over the unscheduled visit of former president, Olusegun
Obasanjo, to President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday in Kenya.
A presidential source revealed that the former leader did not
deny the content of the letter, but made some clarifications to the president.
According to the source, who was in Nairobi, during Obasanjo’s
visit, the former president told President Jonathan that he stood by the
contents of the letter including the sentiments expressed in it, but stressed
that he was not responsible for the leakage of the letter to the online medium,
Premium Times, which published the 18-page letter that was later re-published
in all Nigerian newspapers.
According
to the source, the appearance of the former leader at the hotel took many aides
of the president by surprise, even though a protocol liaison officer was
reported to have preceded the visit.
Obasanjo,
on arriving the venue, was said to have exchanged banters with some of the
dignitaries accompanying the president before his one-on-one with Jonathan.
Obasanjo
was quoted as telling Jonathan that while he was not responsible for the
leakage, he was still expecting a reply from Jonathan. It was however gathered
that certain elements within the administration believed the former leader did
the leakage as part of ongoing offensive against the number one citizen.
“Baba
denied responsibility for the leakage of the letter. But Mr President was
non-committal,” the source said.
The
interaction between the two men was, however, said to be devoid of tension
associated with the letter back at home.
“Both
men were not stiff or confrontational,” the source said.
Obasanjo
was said to have advised that the leakage was either done by some elements
within the administration or linked to any of those he copied.
Meanwhile,
worried by the disunity in the South-West zone of the ruling Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), former President Obasanjo has summoned a meeting of the
stakeholders in the zone for today.
Saturday
Tribune learnt that the fence mending meeting would hold at Chief Obasanjo’s
Top Hill residence in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
According
to a source, all the six states, namely; Ekiti, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Oyo and Ogun
would be represented at the meeting while invitation had been extended to the
states’ representatives.
“We
are having a meeting with Baba Obasanjo on Saturday (today) in Abeokuta. We
have not received any counter order (from Abuja). We are going there to know
the way forward.
Honestly,
we don’t know what is happening to the PDP in the South-West. We have lost our
identity in the scheme of things; strangers seem to have taken over the party
we laboured for because of disunity among us, so, I think the meeting is
timely,”the source told Saturday Tribune in confidence on Friday.
It was
further learnt that five representatives per state are being expected at the
meeting.
Nigerian Tribune
SHARE THIS POST
Designer: Emeka
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments: