Posted by LERE OJEDOKUN and COSMAS EKPUNOBI, Abuja on
"I should also be thanking the Vee Pee for being a good host." With these words, President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday openly expressed camaraderie with his estranged deputy, Atiku Abubakar.
"I should also be thanking the Vee Pee for being a good host." With these words, President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday openly expressed camaraderie with his estranged deputy, Atiku Abubakar.
Obasanjo spoke while receiving the Vice President, who had led the visiting Prime Minister of Sao Tome and Principe, Mrs. Maria Do Silveira, to his office at State House, Abuja.
It was their first joint public outing after the President said he doubted Atiku's loyalty while speaking on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Sunday night.
The meeting happened just as three senators called for caution in the face-off and described it as a major threat to the nation's democracy.
During the meeting with the visitor, however, the two leaders exchanged banters with no apparent display of animosity.
The Vice President had on Monday evening hosted a dinner in honour of the visitor.
Relationship between the duo had last weekend taken a dive as the President during his monthly media chat on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), expressed misgivings on Atiku's loyalty to him.
He had also faulted his deputy over a recent remark in an interview he granted a newspaper that he (Obasanjo) swore to him (Atiku) that he was leaving office by 2007.
President Obasanjo spotted blue brocade with adire agbada while Atiku, who wore light orange kaftan listened attentively as the President discussed bilateral issues with the visitor.
The President said that it was in the collective interest of countries in the Gulf of Guinea Commission to foster peace and political stability in the region.
He added that the rich oil and hydrocarbon reserves in the region could be exploited for the benefit of the citizens of the area in an atmosphere of peaceful cooperation and collaboration.
"The Gulf of Guinea has become the cynosure of world attention. Next to the Middle East, it has one of largest deposits of hydrocarbons. It is also a very peaceful region. That is why we have established the Gulf of Guinea Commission to maintain the peace and promote greater collaboration", he said.
Besides the existing bilateral cooperation in oil exploration and exploitation, Obasanjo explained that the two countries should collaborate in agriculture, education and tourism development.
Responding, Mrs. Silveira while revealing that her visit to Nigeria was to explore ways of enhancing relations noted the ther country's embassy in Abuja would be opened soon.
She welcomed Nigerian investors willing to tap the abundant resources in her country while assuring that laws to protect foreign investments were being worked out.
The Sao Tome and Principe leader further pointed out that like Nigeria, her government was also contending with higher domestic prices of petroleum products due to the continued rising prices of crude oil in the international market.
She praised the African Union (AU) chairman for his relentless campaign for debt relief and development of the continent.
Meanwhile, Vice President Abubakar has urged both countries to expand areas of mutual interest as well as diversify their economies.
"There is no alternative to a more intense economic cooperation in a world of growing global independence", he stressed at the dinner just as he noted that the signing of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) treaty involving both countries underlined the need for intra- African and South-South cooperation.
He also said that the Abuja Declaration by both Presidents Obasanjo and Fredique De Menezes was in demonstration of commitment to the principles of good governance, transparency and rule of law.
In her remarks, Mrs. Silveira revealed that one of the fruits of mutual cooperation between the two countries was the opening of a Nigerian bank in Sao Tome and Principe.
She called for more cooperation in sports, health and agriculture while urging the Federal Government to grant her country debt forgiveness.
Meanwhile, chairman of the Senate Committee on Industries, Senator Felix Ogunwale, Senators Abu Ibrahim, and James Kolawole yesterday called for extreme caution in the face-off between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his Vice, Atiku Abubakar, just as they described it as a major threat to the nation's democracy.
They also said the possibility of National Assembly impeaching the latter (Atiku) based on the said misunderstanding is very remote and condemned in strong terms the August 3 raid on Atiku's Maryland, United States (U.S.) home by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.
The senators, in separate interviews with Daily Champion, described the raid as a national insult and embarrassment.
Operatives of the FBI had carried a comprehensive search in Atiku's U.S. private home as part of a bid to nail Congressman William Jefferson who had met with Nigeria's Vice President barely 24 hours earlier.
Senators Ibrahim (ANPP, Katsina) Ogunwale (PDP, Osun) and Kolawole (AD, Ekiti) in their separate reactions yesterday, blasted the FBI, insisting that the invasion should be viewed as a direct insult on Nigeria and Nigerians, even as the lawmakers demanded unreserved apologies from the FBI.
The senators warned on the grave political implications of the face-off between President Obasanjo and his vice, even as the lawmakers saw the misunderstanding as a major threat to democracy.
Senator Ogunwale warned that the consequences of the face-off between the two leaders is better imagined.
According to him, the two leaders "should tread with caution, because their face-off could lead us to a new Nigeria which would not be in our interest."
He, however, ruled out impeachment proceedings against Atiku, adding that the situation cannot be likened to the circumstances that recently claimed the job of the South African Vice President Mr. Jacob Zuma.
The senators who tasked the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Senate to resolve the face-off as a matter of urgency, however, said that the use of force, intimidation and impeachment threat against any of the leaders would not be in the interest of the nation.
Senator Ibrahim, who described the media war between the president and his vice however, said that the impeachment of the vice president is almost impossible, pointing out that the process is cumbersome and unnecessary.
Recalling what he described as possible genesis of the face-off, the senator said that it was politically wrong for the president to have told his vice in whatever way that he cannot succeed him.
According to him, the president has continued to allow his military background betray him in his relationship with the Vice-President and other politicians, but the president cannot on his own remove Atiku because only the National Assembly can do so.
He, however, said that no senator, to the best of his knowledge, was considering impeachment move against the Vice President, adding that the process would take several months.
Senator Idris Kuta had in his earlier reaction linked the face-off to the alleged third term agenda of The Presidency just as he cautioned the two leaders to be careful.