Facts have now emerged on the reason behind the secret meeting
held at Aso Rock Villa between former president Goodluck Jonathan and
his successor, President Muhammadu Buhari.
It was learnt that the meeting was facilitated by former head of state Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, The Nation reports.
Abubakar headed the 2015 elections peace committee that paved way for peace before, during and after the 2015 general elections.
The meeting was coming on the heels of complaints by Jonathan that
Buhari is not sticking to the peace accord they signed prior to March
28, 2015 presidential election.
Jonathan had hoped to stop the probe of his administration over alleged misappropriation of fund under his watch.
However, the president had insisted that all looted funds must be
returned. A source who does not want to be named due to the sensitivity
of the issue said the president told Jonathan that he had nothing to
fear at all.
It was gathered that the outcome of the session between Buhari and
Jonathan could have informed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s statement at
the weekend. The VP said the anti-corruption fight of the present
administration is not focused on Jonathan.
It is believed in some quarters that Jonathan was not happy that
Buhari had moved against his ex-national security adviser, ex-chief
security officer and some ministers.
The source said Jonathan prevailed on Abubakar’s committee to beg Buhari not to‘rubbish’ his administration.
He said: “For some weeks, Jonathan has been in the country to
iron out some issues on his government. Based on Jonathan’s complaint,
Abdulsalami made efforts – five times- to get in touch with Buhari but
the ex-Head of State could not get through on time. I think Buhari
already had security reports on Jonathan’s emissary.”
At some point, the former head of state met brick wall in securing
audience with president Buhari but some past presidents had to prevail
on Buhari to give the committee a chance to mediate.
The source added: “This was how Abdulsalami succeeded in securing
an appointment from Buhari for Jonathan with a caveat that the
immediate past President should feel free to bare his mind.
“Jonathan said he was hearing some of the allegations, especially
financial sleaze, against his administration for the first time. He
made it clear that he had nothing to do with some of these corrupt
practices.
“He said whatever steps or actions the President intends to take;
it should be within the framework of the peace accord the two leaders
signed. Obviously, he wanted soft landing. He also pledged to cooperate
with Buhari as much as possible on all steps he is going to take.”
Buhari had stated during the meeting that Jonathan had nothing to
fear but insisted that there was no going back on the recovery of looted
funds.
“The President reassured Jonathan that he has no personal agenda
against him. But he insisted that whatever was stolen from the treasury
must be returned,” the source said.
No comments:
Post a Comment