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President Olusegun Obasanjo may be taking the recent impeachment threat from the National Assembly more seriously than presidency aides would have the world believe.
• Restores Atiku's security again
• Scared to leave Abuja for weekend in Ota
President Olusegun Obasanjo may be taking the recent impeachment threat from the National Assembly more seriously than presidency aides would have the world believe.
Saturday Sun can authoritatively report that the president is so shaken that he has cancelled his previous plans to travel out of Abuja.
This is even as the drama over the security details of Vice President Atiku Abubakar took another dramatic turn, with the presidency not only restoring the VP's security details, but also sending a new team altogether.
Usually, the president loves spending his weekends in his Ota Farm in Ogun State. But on Thursday, he reportedly told close aides that he would not leave Abuja, to avoid the pro-impeachment forces getting their way.
Presidency sources said they were wary of the fact that, given any chance, the pro-impeachment forces could spring a weekend surprise that could spell the downfall of the president by Monday.
Talks of planned impeachment against the president gained grounds on Wednesday, prompting the PDP chairman, Senator Ahmadu Ali, visiting the National Assembly to plead with the lawmakers to rethink their action.
The impeachment was said to be spearheaded by lawmakers who felt betrayed by Obasanjo and the PDP, thereby leading to their failure at the December 2006 primaries. Broken mainly into two groups - The 2007 Movement and the pro-third term lawmakers - the lawmakers were said to have sworn that Obasanjo would not end his tenure on May 29, unless they were given the tickets to return to the National Assembly.
Worried about the development, PDP leadership, led by Ali, pleaded with the lawmakers 'in the name of the Almighty God, and in the interest of our democracy", not to impeach the president.
However, some disillusioned politicians backed the impeachment move said to have reached a crescendo as the lawmakers were said to have got the constitutionally required number of signatures.
The apprehension thus generated by the resolve of the aggrieved lawmakers within the
Presidency was therefore said to be the reason Obasanjo cancelled his traditional weekend trip to Ota.
A source close to the presidency said he would fly in direct from Abuja to Lagos, to attend the Yar'Adua campaign flag-off today. It is still not clear if he would fly back to Abuja soon after the Lagos event.
Atiku's security
Meanwhile, there were indications by Wednesday that Obasanjo has given in to Atiku's demands of fresh security personnel. The U-turn is seen not only as a response to a court order to that effect, but as a way of placating the pro-Atiku lawmakers in the national assembly who insist they are more inclined to impeaching the president than listening to his request for impeachment of the VP.
The new Atiku security personnel were said to be drawn mainly from Plateau and Niger states.
Following Atiku's insistence that he would not take back his former security staff, a source said, the president had ordered, in obedience to court ruling, that a new set of personnel be provided for the VP.
Atiku was said to have rejected the former security staff on grounds that they may have been planted against him by some persons in the presidency.
Non-restoration of his security apparatus was said to be one of the reasons Atiku did not attend the Federal Executive Meeting (FEC) on Wednesday.
But, our source said 'latest by Monday, Atiku would have his full complement of security staff.
Atiku's security and other privileges were withdrawn following his face-off with Obasanjo. However, the VP's security became an issue, even before he returned from the United States, where he went on vacation.
Amidst apprehension that he may either be arrested or assassinated on returning to the country, there were even speculations that he may have contacted the American CIA and the FBI to escort him back to Nigeria.
That fuelled a lot of criticisms from the federal government, which accused Atiku of portraying Nigeria in a bad light abroad.
Although the VP's camp promptly denied the report, Atiku himself, alluding to the withdrawal of his privileges, including the security, said a few days later that he was the most vilified vice president in the world.
Even on Sunday, when he returned from the United States, the security operatives that were detailed to receive him were reportedly hurriedly sent from the Presidency and withdrawn soon after.
However, a presidency source said they were withdrawn following Atiku's insistence that he did not feel safe with his former security personnel.