The President of Nigeria, Mr.Umar Yar'Adua last week in a secret meeting in Aso Rock Presidential villa with Mr. Atiku Abubakar, the immediate past Vice President and a presidential candidate in the last presidential election, made some concessions to the former Vice President.
Nigerian Presidency sources informed us that the meeting, which was at the instance of the President, was called to find ways to put pressure on Mr. Abubakar to withdraw from challenging the President's election.Mr. Abubakar is challenging the elction of Mr.Yar'Adua at the Presidential election tribunal.The thinking in the presidency according to our sources is that of all the petitions against the President's election,Mr. Abubakar's petition is the most likely to rock the boat.
The former Vice President according to sources was said to have made a number of demands, out of which three concessions were said to have been made to him for now.The three concessions are:(1) Presidency neutrality in the event of a re-run of the gubernatorial election in Adamawa State, the former Vice President's home state.The Adamawa gubernatorial election was recently annulled,even though there is an appeal against the annullment, the former Vice President's camp is optmistic of a re-run.(2)A revisit of the African Petroleum Plc majority equity acquisition by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.African Petroleum Plc's core investment was acquired by an Abubakar front but was taken over by the government of Mr. olusegun Obasanjo, Mr.Abubakar's boss,and sold off to an Obasanjo front.(3)Refund of campaign expenditures in the last presidential election.
Our sources are however of the opinion that anti-Abubakar elements in the presidency may truncate these concessions.
