The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has stated that it is unperturbed about the visit of ex-presidential flag-bearer of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, and former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo “to discuss the political future of Nigeria.”
At the weekend, Kwankwaso and Duke, a 2007 presidential aspirant, visited Obasanjo in Abeokuta and held a closed-door meeting.
While the details of the meeting remains undisclosed, sources close to the leaders suggested to The Punch that the meeting was part of a larger effort to strategise for Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
However, the National Publicity Director of the ruling APC, Bala Ibrahim, while speaking to the aforementioned publication on Sunday, boasted that President Bola Tinubu’s relevance in contemporary politics had dwarfed the opposition figures and statesmen.
He said, “With due respect, I hold Obasanjo in high esteem. As a former President, ex-Head of State, and an elder statesman, I don’t want to take issues with him. But when it comes to the politics of Nigeria, particularly contemporary politics, Tinubu is not their mate.
“Tinubu is head and shoulders above them in modern politics in Nigeria. So the combination of Obasanjo, Kwankwaso, Peter Obi, and Donald Duke, who was my schoolmate, does not present a threat to Tinubu. These are people who were trashed in the last election.
“This is not the first time Obasanjo is going to rally around someone, and that person is defeated. Remember, he supported (ex-President Goodluck) Jonathan, who later lost to Buhari. Obasanjo supported another candidate, Peter Obi, in the last election again and Tinubu trounced them.
“So they can have marathon meetings and meet till the end of time, they will not present any threat to the government of APC. Who among Kwankwaso, Obasanjo, Obi, Duke was not beaten? If they are bringing angels, it’s a different story. But if it is these same spent forces that will combine and meet, their meeting cannot bring any good outcome.”