…sets aside N1.6bn to fight him, divide the S/West in six months
- Plots to unearth damaging reports about APC national leader
. Props Kingibe as Buhari’s successor
. Meets with some Emirs, others in Buhari’s Katsina home
. Plans to sideline Osinbajo, sack his aides, others
. To meet again in Abuja, Katsina Tuesday
SAM SEGUN-ADESOLA, Abuja
The group of power brokers believed to be the force behind the nation’s Presidency may have finally begun deft moves to effectively checkmate the 2023 presidential ambition of the National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The power brokers, popularly referred to as ‘the cabal,’ The Point reliably gathered, met behind closed doors between last Thursday night and Friday morning at President Muhammadu Buhari’s Katsina home to fine tune their strategies for achieving their alleged objective of stopping Tinubu, and in his stead, ensure the emergence of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, as the country’s next president in 2023.
Also present at the meeting, The Point learnt, were some powerful Northern Emirs, who have allegedly been recruited to be part of the plot by the cabal to ensure the North retains the nation’s number one office in 2023 and also work for the emergence of Kingibe as President Buhari’s successor.
The cabal and the Emirs are said to have scheduled another meeting to hold simultaneously in Katsina and Abuja on Tuesday to further fine tune their plan and strategies for the North to retain power through Kingibe’s imposition in 2023.
CABAL’S N1.6BN WAR CHEST TO STOP TINUBU, DIVIDE SOUTH WEST
Impeccable sources at the villa disclosed to The Point that the cabal had already set aside a huge war chest of a whopping N1.6billion with which to prosecute their agenda against Tinubu, first in his South West homestead within the next six months.
Although Tinubu is believed to also have a huge influence on President Buhari and the ruling APC to the extent that he’s credited with nominating Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and even some of the current ministers, The Point learnt that the cabal in the nation’s Presidency has concluded plans to clip his wings in order to stop his ambition to succeed Buhari in 2023.
KINGIBE, CABAL’S ANNOINTED CANDIDATE FOR 2023
On the other, the Aso Rock power brokers anointed candidate, Kingibe, who was also the running mate to the late Chief Moshood Abiola, whose victory in the 1993 presidential election was annulled by the President Ibrahim Babangida military junta, is believed to be a strong member of the cabal at the Presidency. He is also believed to currently reside in the country’s Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, inspite of the fact that he’s not holding any official position in the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
Recall that Kingibe, the suave retired diplomat lost to Abiola in the presidential primary election of the Social Democratic Party. But Abiola was persuaded by his friends and political supporters to pick Kingibe as his vice-presidential candidate because of his political clout in the North and closeness to Major-General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, who was the number two man under the General Olusegun Obasanjo military regime. Both Abiola and Kingibe jointly sold HOPE 93 to Nigerians.
But as the plot for the actualisation of the June 12 mandate thickened, Kingibe jumped ship and he was said to have even worked to ensure that Hope 93 was not only deferred, but also dashed totally. He later served as foreign minister under General Sanni Abacha, the same man who arrested and detained Abiola with whom Kingibe ran on the platform of the SDP.
Abiola was said to have later regretted his choice of Kingibe over Dan Suleiman, a retired air commodore and former military governor from the then middle belt. Abiola was said to have referred to Suleiman as a ‘complete gentleman,’ but said that he did know that Kingibe, his running mate, had “extensive connections and relationship” with the security agencies and the military high command at that time.
Kingibe is believed in certain quarters to be one of those who contributed to the abortion of the third republic, but President Buhari, last year, honoured him with the second highest national award of the Grand Commander of the Niger for being Abiola’s running mate during the annulled June 12, 1993. But many Nigerians believe he does not deserve such an award.
CABAL’S STRATEGIES TO STOP TINUBU’S 2023 PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION
However, part of the cabal’s strategies to stop Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition, The Point learnt, is the alleged plan to begin a serial release of “some damaging reports” on some alleged “shady deals” involving the APC national leader with the objective of clearing the hurdles for Kingibe to easily emerge as the ruling party’s choice of presidential candidate for the next general elections.
The cabal, it was also learnt, plans to draw from its large war chest to fund some elements in the South West, including Tinubu’s close political allies and associates, to start some phony intractable political battle with the APC national leader with a view to distracting and discouraging him from realising his 2023 presidential ambition. The recent defeat of Tinubu by renowned Historian, Prof. Banji Akintoye, in the contest for the position of a new Yoruba leader, it was learnt, was part of the strategies of the cabal to checkmate and disgrace the APC national leader and even detract from his political relevance amongst his Yoruba kinsmen.
Vice President Osinbajo, it was reliably learnt, would also not be spared by the cabal in their current bid to stop Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition. Presidency sources hinted that aides to both the vice president and the President perceived not to be sympathetic to the cause of the cabal, would be the first casualties as they have been penciled down for sack in the run-up to the 2023 general elections.
An insider told The Point, “All their (cabal’s) strategies have been cut and dried. They have concluded on Tinubu, they have decided his fate concerning the 2023 presidency. He’s going nowhere, if these people should have their way. They are going to use everything and every willing person and instrument against him (Tinubu). They are bent on destroying him politically, even before 2023. I tell you, they are going to him very dirty. They are bent on destroying him for their own selfish ambition for 2023.
“Osinbajo, too, will not be spared. They are planning to give him worse treatment than the cabal during President Yar’Adua’s time gave to Jonathan in the twilight and dying days of the late president.”
CABAL FINGERED IN OYO-ITA’S ORDEAL
Presidency sources also fingered the powerful Aso Rock cabal for the current travails of the embattled Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winfred Oyo-Ita, who is being investigated by the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for an alleged N3billion contract fraud.
After undergoing a four-day grilling in the custody of the EFCC, distraught Oyo-Ita landed in the hospital after she was granted administrative bail by the anti-graft agency.
Her offer of resignation from office was reportedly rejected by the Presidency.
As of the time of going to press, Tinubu’s spokesman, Alhaji Tunde Rahman, had yet to fully react to the development.
Rahman only said, in a terse reply to a text message sent to him our correspondent, “Where did you hear that?”
