Posted by By Simon Ebegbulem on
NORTHERN political elite are piling pressure on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Saad Abubakar (III), to get the Presidential candidates of the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, to drop court cases against the emergence of Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua as President-elect.
ABUJA - NORTHERN political elite are piling pressure on the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Saad Abubakar (III), to get the Presidential candidates of the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP), Major-General Muhammadu Buhari, to drop court cases against the emergence of Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua as President-elect.
Highly placed sources told Vanguard in Abuja yesterday that the intervention of the Sultan was needed as the only person who could speak to Vice President Atiku and General Buhari.
It was learnt that the push to get the Sultan to prevail on the duo emanated from the leadership of the Northern Union headed by Dr Olusola Saraki.
Sources said the Northern Union had earlier written some letters to both Atiku and Buhari, intimating them of the need to allow the April 21 election be so as not to create a situation that may lead to the extension of the tenure of the present administration.
The Northern Union was said to have resolved at its meetings to engage other traditional rulers across the country in the peace-making efforts that will lead to the formation of Yar'Adua government under a peaceful atmosphere.
It was further learnt that but for the recent trip of the Sultan out of the country, the meeting between him and both Vice President Atiku and General Buhari would have been held.
Chairman of the National Working Committee of the Northern Union, Mr Patrick Adaba, confirmed to Vanguard that everything being done was to allow the smooth flow of civilian-to-civilian transition in the country.
He said: 'The Northern Union is keenly interested in making sure that the present democracy is not derailed and we have tried to approach the Sultan to approach both their Excellencies, Atiku Abubakar and General Muhammadu Buhari, on the elections.
'These people are all brothers and in the tradition of the North, brothers are not supposed to fight. We have written to both Vice President Atiku Abubakar and General Buhari on this," he said.
Reacting to the planned overture, spokesman for the Vice President, Mallam Garba Shehu, acknowledged the moves but added that the Vice President was resolute in tackling the issue at the tribunal so that democracy could take a firm root in the country.
He said: 'We have been hearing of things like that. The Vice President has never denied such overtures but he has said so far there is nothing direct between the two (the Vice President and the President-elect). If there is anything, the Vice President has remained resolute on taking this issue to the court so that our democracy can take firm roots."
Speaking for the Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr Osita Okechukwu, said the Presidential candidate of the ANPP did not see the issue as a personal matter but rather fundamental issue that affects generations of Nigerians. He said: 'As far as we are concerned, what bothers the General is not about himself but about millions of Nigerians with great commitment to democracy. The General you know is not a greedy person, he is not an opportunist.
'You should remember his statement that if we allow this thing to stand, next time they will announce results 24 hours before the elections. So it is the subversion of the people's will that the General is concerned most with.
'So anybody who is coming to make peace should jolly think about the next generation of Nigerians because by what they did, the image of Nigeria will surely come in.
'The man is not looking at it as a personal outing. If there was victory, he would have gone out of his way to congratulate the winner but there was no victory. He left for Kaduna this evening after the meeting we held with him, he never discussed about anybody approaching him," he said.