There is NO WAY Obasanjo would have defeated Alex Ekwueme and emerged as PDP presidential candidate in 1999 if not for Atiku Abubakar.

Ekwueme was the Leader of G34 and oversaw the process by which G34 became PDP. G34 had 36 original members, one drawn from each state (but Sule Lamido and Abubakar Rimi were jailed by Abacha ahead of the inaugural meeting in Lagos, so only 34 members signed their original press release).

In becoming PDP, G34 dissolved into political groups and met in the home of Prof. Jerry Gana on Mambilla Street in Abuja. Five political associations, each with 7 representatives. They were:

All Nigerian Congress with Chief Sunday Awoniyi, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Alhaji (Dr.) Bamanga Tukur, Alhaji Aminu Wali, Chief Alani Bankole, Alhaji Bello Kirfi and Alhaji Iro Dan-Musa.

Social Progressives Party with Chief Solomon D. Lar, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Rimi, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Prof. Jerry Gana, Baba Sule Lamido, Ambassador Wilberforce Juta and Dr. Iyorchia Ayu.

Peoples Consultative Forum with Uncle Bola Ige, Chief Olu Falae, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Lanihun Ajayi, Senator Francis Okpozo, Chief Olusegun Osoba and Chief Ayo Opadokun.

Peoples National Forum with Dr. Alex Ekwueme, Senator Onyeabo Obi, Dr. Sylvester U. Ugoh, Senator Francis Ellah,
Senator Emeka Echeruo, Chief Sonny Odogwu and Prof. ABC Nwosu.

Peoples Democratic Movement with Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Sunday Afolabi, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, Professor Ango Abdullahi and Chief (Mrs.) Titi Ajanaku.

These 5 groups with 7 representatives each met semi-formally on Tuesday the 18th of August, 1998 at Jerry Gana’s home to discuss the ideology and tactics of the new party to be formed. They discussed all night and then met formally the following day at Sheraton Hotel in Abuja with a larger audience.

Politically, everyone agreed that power should shift to the South but there were two conflicting political ideals in those meetings.

The majority group felt that the transition programme should continue from the Second Republic where Alex Ekwueme had been Vice-President to Shehu Shagari - power to the SE. Ekwueme carried the room.

The minority group felt that the transition programme should continue from the Third Republic where MKO Abiola was elected President - power to the SW.

As the Chairman of G34 and protem Chairman of the newly proposed PDP, Ekwueme had the upper hand and as this became clear to the SW delegation under the political group Peoples Consultative Forum, they pulled out of PDP and began discussions with those trying to form All Peoples Party (APP).

Despite the big names of these leaders, most of them were not grassroots solid or active. Because all these leaders had last played politics in the Third Republic (1992/93) days of SDP/NRC. Abacha had formed five political parties (CNC, UNCP, NCPN, DPN and GDM) which by now held sway at the grassroots in the late 90s. From a practical politick perspective, most of these leaders decided to accommodate strong and young politician who had participated in the Abacha transition under five parties.

This was then the public reason for the pull out of PCF from PDP: their refusal to work with anyone who had participated in the Abacha transition via the five parties while Abiola was in jail (although they later pragmatically embraced them in AD).

PDM on its part actively embraced those politicians at the ward and LGA and immediately became the strongest of all those groups.

Obasanjo had only just been released from prison in June 1998, his Otta Farm and other businesses had taken a major hit and only survived by the efforts of his friend, Otunba Reuben Oyewole Fasawe, whose story I shall also come to shortly.

Obasanjo did not feature in the formation of PDP or in the initial conversations of who was to be President from 1999.

Baba was simply just grateful to be out from prison while Atiku was politically active in organising PDM within the PDP.

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https://twitter.com/DemolaRewaju/status/1823358526082720100

I think people are confusing what His Excellency Atiku Abubakar is seeking out in this Chicago matter.

It’s s beyond what some people travelled abroad to find, or even the common speculations about the gender of the said Bola Tinubu.

Our Atiku is deep, and deeply strategic. The initial application by Atiku to the US Court was discovery related to the authenticity of the diploma President Tinubu submitted to the INEC, as well as other records and testimony from CSU related to it.

Atiku then deftly zeroed in on certain specifics, which were granted.

This DSS thing - Tinubu is a master of rallying his base by creating a feeling of siege, to stir them up against imaginary enemies.

A "we versus them" atmosphere is his most ideal terrain, and his quickness to point-signal enemies is how his politics has thrived from day one. Tinubu, in my eyes, has no enemies or friends - no fixed ideal even.

But he will jump on any prevailing sentiment or even stir it up - or make an enemy out of any entity, just to draw sympathy.

It's the tactic his group used to retire Jakande in 92 and then Afenifere in 2003.

First there were two protectorates - Northern and Southern (Lagos as a separate colony).

Then there were three regions: Northern Eastern and Western, and respective parties along regional line.

The North understood that an alliance of East and West would work against it. First political alliance was between North and the Niger Delta Congress, pre-independence.

Then the East said why not and aligned with the North, and the Western Region was split by the majority into two Midwest and Western Regions.

Similar calls to split Middle-Belt from North… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

When a certain pastor said “the energies of young people must not be wasted on poorly planned projects”, so many on here came at him until he deleted the tweet.

In a matter of weeks, those same people will look back and wonder on the extent of “poorly planned” this project was. They will look at a man who ran as Vice four years ago and hear how he promised the man he ran with; that as long as the man was in the race, he wouldn’t run against him.

How this man balked at the idea of running unless his party since 2014, zoned the presidency to his zone.

The other day, Okowa was in Adamawa with PDP leaders in the state to attend a function with Lutherans, one of the Christian church denominations in Nigeria; founded in the Numan areas of Adamawa.

PDP's close relationships with Christian minorities in the North is long and deep. Some political members of these churches hold House of Assembly seats, state commission appointments or even House of Reps on a rotational basis.

Convincing them to abandon that single interest, which guarantees a stake in the state polity, for the sake of Aso Rock is a fantasy.

Reminiscing on how exactly I became a Gooner…

First FC I ever supported was Ajax - white jersey with a red stripe running down the middle: I loved them.

Finidi George was our best 7 in Nigeria and when Kanu Nwankwo also joined him in Amsterdam, Ajax became the FC to root for. Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davies, keeper Van Der Saar, the De Boer Brothers, Frank Rijkaard, and then Louis Van Gaal as the coach.

We couldn't watch them play live on TV as you have it these days: only saw highlights on the weekend sports shows.