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From John Adams, Minna
The trio of former senate president, Bukola Saraki, Governors of Bauchi and Skokoto states, Bala Mohammed and Aminu Waziri Tambowal respectively met former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida behind closed door in his hill top mansion in Minna, the Niger state capital on Thursday with the issue of a consensus Presidential Candidate for the People Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 topping the agenda of the meeting.
The three wise men led by the former senate President arrived at the IBB home at exactly 1:30 pm from the Minna international Airport and went straight into the closed door meeting which lasted well over two hours.
Nobody including the pressmen were not allowed into the premises of the former Military President throughout the period the meeting lasted.
However Journalists were later called into house where the spokesperson of the delegation and former Kwara state Governor, Bukola Saraki briefed them on the mission of the three wise men, saying that they were in Minna to brief General Babangida whom he described as one of the founding father of the opposition People Democratic Party as part of their nationwide consultations with a view to arrive at a consensus Presidential candidate for the party for 2023 election.
This meeting is coming barely one week after Tambowal, accompanied by his Predecessor in office, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa met IBB and General Abdulsalami behind closed door in their various homes on the same subject matter.
But according to Saraki while briefing newsmen after the meeting, said “we are here as part of our consultation going round the country, talking to our elders and stakeholders because we the aspirants under the PDP platform feel we need to come and brief the leaders in what we are doing on the issue of the consensus”.
He pointed out that the nationwide constructions is part of the process in other to arrive at a peaceful end ahead of the 2023 elections, adding that “we believe at times like this, we need their blessing, advice and guidance. We took him through what we are doing. This is part of what we call solution providing”.
Saraki maintained that there is the need to provide solution to the political process because “we want to ensure that it is smooth, it is not rancourous and it leads to a better Nigeria”.
“It is that desire to make a better Nigeria that those of us who are aspiring to be president came together that we must find a way of having a consensus so that we can reduce the number and ensure that we have a candidate who is competent who has the support of everybody and we cannot do that on our own.
“We need leaders like General Babangida to give us their own advice and blessing. We will be doing further consultation.We will take his advice back with us and put it in practice”, he submitted.
He used the opportunity to condole those who have lost their loved ones or have them missing after the Abuja-Kaduna bound train attack, pointing out that what Nigerians are going through, especially in the last few days calls for concern from all well meaning Nigerians, adding that
Earlier, General was said to have thanked his guests for the honor done to him to have his advice and suggestion towards a better Nigeria, stressing that “Your believe in the unity of this country was paramount in most of our discussions. Your belief in having a better Nigeria featured very prominently. You made my day. What you talked about is Nigeria, Nigeria, Nigeria want to thank you for the visit”.
General Babangida was quoted to have said that he enjoyed meeting with Saraki because of his believe for the unity of the country, adding that “I want you to keep it up, for the benefit of this country and generations yet unborn”.
On the mission of the three wise men, Babangida said “What you are doing is good, this is how the country should develop, consultations, compromises and so on, this will make a better country and this is what you are trying to do. You will have our support as long as you stay on the course of promoting Nigeria all the time, making it a secure country”.
