…..The First Lady to the rescue
Insinuations that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his predecessor ex-president Muhammadu Buhari may have fallen out would be put to rest tomorrow- at least for now- when both men would dine together at the Presidential Villa, QUEST TIMES can now reveal.
There has been buzzes around political circles in Abuja recent times that things might be getting messy between the two especially after aides of President Tinubu started complaining about what the new administration inherited from the immediate past presidency.
For instance the National Security Adviser Mr. Nuhu Ribadu said in November that the past administration, led by ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, bankrupted Nigeria.
He spoke at a conference hosted by the military’s chief of defence intelligence in Abuja lamenting that “incumbent government, under President Bola Tinubu, inherited a “bankrupt country”. Ribadu also added that the federal government is “paying back what was taken”.
Then more recently Mr. Joe Obazee who was named a special investigator into CBN and related entities did a damning report on the CBN Governor indicating him and others top officials of the Buhari administration including the former Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed, Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha and Chief of Staff Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.
Knowledgeable sources who insist that both leaders although have suffered a few cracks in their relationships, are both keen to at least “talk over lunch or dinner so as to douse rising tension especially between their aides.”
The sources disclose that there are real differences emerging into the public between both Tinubu and Buhari but one of those working to resolve the matter is the First Lady Senator Oluremi Tinubu who has had to travel to Daura in August 2023 to pay a courtesy call on Buhari when matters seem to be getting to a head between them. It was later that the NSA further inflamed passions.
It was also learnt that Buhari would be coming to Abuja for the first time since May 29 when he handed over to Tinubu. While the meeting with the President is said to be the main purpose of the visit to Abuja, there is also the publicly announced book launch which the former President is also expected to attend.
Sources close to the First Lady credited her with the organisation of the lunch or dinner that will take place on Tuesday January 16 between the two leaders at the Villa.
The book “Working With Buhari” written by Mr. Femi Adesina, the former Presidential Media Adviser is to be launched on Tuesday morning at the Transcorp Hilton, where both Buhari and Tinubu would first meet before they both retire to the Aso Villa to dine and spend time together.
The dinner is likely to be a private event but there may be the release of photos to the media by the Presidency afterwards.
In 2013 both Buhari and Tinubu came together in an unlikely political move to form a political alliance leading to the All Progressives Congress which proceeded to defeat the Jonathan/PDP administration in 2015. While both men are not known to be particularly affectionate of each other, observers say they both knew an alliance between them had the potential to win. Much credit however is given to Tinubu for developing the strategy and conceding to Buhari to go at the presidency first.