PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari plan to meet over the coming weeks in a renewed attempt to address the alleged fears by government officials the opposition may jail several of them for corruption if it wins.
Originally, Nigeria's presidential elections were due to hold on February 14 but the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) suddenly postponed the polls for six weeks until March 28. Citing security concerns and the need to complete the distribution of permanent voters' cards, Inec said it needed more time to ensure free and fair elections but the oppositions sees it as a government ploy.
This sudden postponement has led to all sorts of tensions, with General Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC) accusing the governing Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of seeking to scrap the elections altogether. Over the last week, the two parties have been involved in several high profile spats, heating up the political atmosphere considerably.
With the tension building, the Abuja Peace Accord, the two parties signed earlier this year appears threatened, so presidency officials are considering a fresh peace meeting. It is believed that the meeting which might hold outside the country in a bid to establish a good rapport between the two contenders before the election.
One presidency source said: “We are trying to broker a meeting between the two leaders. The way the presidential electioneering is going may create serious divisions among Nigerians and we need to stop this.
“Apart from this, I think there is serious apprehension in the camp of the president that if Buhari wins, he’s going to jail a lot of President Jonathan’s supporters for alleged corruption. This is one of the issues that is causing serious tension in the camp of the president and we also need to make sure that in whatever we do, there must be peace in the country.”
Former president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has already alleged that President Jonathan was afraid that General Buhari could jail him if he won. One top PDP member said this fact could not be denied by the party and the presidency.
He added: “You have listened to the press conference by our campaign office and we didn’t deny that aspect but we dealt with other issues. That statement by former President Obasanjo is real, and it is true and we all know that but we know that very soon, the meeting which we are hearing is being coordinated by some concerned leaders, might address that.”
Over the weekend, Chief Obasanjo had said he believes President Jonathan's fear is particularly motivated by General Buhari's reputation. He added that people would have been telling President Jonathan that General Buhari is a hard man who will fight corruption and the president may end up in jail should the APC win the elections.
credit: Nigerianwatch
