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Buhari’s visit : ‘No commitment’ from IBB towards CPC -By
Danlami Nmodu
Newsdiaryonline Mon March 7,2011
 There
have been salacious reports of a possible deal between General
Muhammadu Buhari ,presidential candidate of the Congress for
Progressive Change and General Ibrahim B. Babangida.These
reports were fuelled by the very rare visit of Buhari
to IBB’s Hilltop
residence in Minna after the CPC rally in the metropolis.But
Newsdiaryonline
learnt that reports on the
visit may have been ‘hyped’ by those
reading too much to it.``It was just an ordinary visit’,’
an insider told
Newsdiaryonline.
But the source also failed to realise that a meeting of the duo
is not likely to be viewed as ordinary by discerning elite .Hitherto,there
had been insinuations
that the two were not enjoying the best of cordiality.But Buhari
dismissed this at the last visit as he insisted everything was
cordial.
Despite all this air of apparent cordiality however,
Newsdiaryonline
sources said there was indeed no
deal between IBB and Buhari. There is ‘no commitment from IBB’
towards helping Buhari, an insider revealed. Yet there seems to
be An obvious fact no one seems willing to admit :the fact that
there may have been no commitment from IBB or like Yinka
Odumakin ,Buhari’s spokesman reportedly said, that there was no
deal with IBB may not preclude the fact that there was some
discussion or at least ‘gisting on the
political situation’.No
one has openly said what the duo actually discussed.Is it
possible for the duo to meet at this critical period without at
least comparing notes, given their military fraternity-no matter
how “frosty” their relationship may have been?
 There
are in fact those who believe
that despite any lack of
formal commitment from either side on the election issue,
the timing of the visit was perfect and it certainly would
ruffle feathers within the ruling PDP -whose presidential
candidate and incumbent
President Goodluck Jonathan has been struggling to reconcile a
fractured ruling party ahead of next months general elections.
IBB , Aliyu Gusau and Atiku Abubakar are known as the champions
of zoning, a formula breached by Jonathan’s decision to run for
the presidency now.Atiku who became the consesnsus candidate of
the northern PDP lost to Jonathan in controversial
circumstances; but the former vice president seems unwilling to
go to court to challenge the ‘unpleasant’ verdict.IBB on the
other hand, swiftly congratulated Jonathan ,but he has been
saying the president must not
stay for more than a term:an indication that there is a seeming
distrust of the
president’s avowal to do just a term and leave in 2015.
Buthari has not been part of the northern consensus plot.The CPC
and Nuhu Ribadu the presidential candidate of Action Congress of
Nigeria ,ACN remain as
the leading northern torchbearer,if you like , in the race for
Aso Rock.Buhari has tried to forge an alliance with ACN but it
collapsed due to the fear of a muslim –muslim ticket which would
have resulted from that deal as Bola Tinubu reportedly insisted
on being Buhari’s running mate.Though some pragmatist believe a
Buhari-Tinubu ticket would have made the case even worse for
PDP, some analysts take the view that
it would have been
‘foolhardy’ for Buhari to risk that sort of alliance at a time
like this in Nigeria.In any case there is the hope that in the
unlikely event that the presidential race goes into a second
round, alliance talks could be reopened by the opposition
parties.
At least for
now, Buhari and IBB will continue to bask in the euphoria of
their new- found cordiality.For whatever it is worth, chieftains
of PDP may not find this
funny.
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