Yakubu Dogara, reportedly made this known in his yet to be released
biography, ‘A Reed Made Flint,’ authored by Ovation publisher, Dele
Momodu.
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Pulse News Gallery: Photo highlights of Tuesday, July 19, 2016Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has been revealed as one of the major force that backed Dr Bukola Saraki's candidacy to emerge the Senate President of the 8th National Assembly.
Speaker of the house of representatives, Yakubu Dogara, reportedly made this known in his yet to be released biography, ‘A Reed Made Flint,’ authored by Ovation publisher, Dele Momodu.
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Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, Yakubu Dogara, Bukola Saraki(Jide Salu Diary)
TheCable
reports that Dogara disclosed that Atiku “solidly” backed Bukola
Saraki’s bid to be senate president in 2015 — despite strong opposition
from the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including
President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If I
don’t say this to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s credit I will not be fair to
him. It will amount to travesty. At the time when most leaders in the
APC were not showing sympathy to our cause, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar came
out as one solid voice in support of both the candidature of the now
Senate President (Bukola Saraki) and my humble self," Dogara was quoted.
Tinubu's role
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Atiku Abubakar and Bola Ahmed Tinubu(aljazirahnews)
Just as it was in his case against Femi Gbajabiamila, Dogara reeled out Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu's role when he had met Atiku in a meeting in Bauchi.
Dogara said: “There
was this particular time we were meet ing with our leader in the
North-East, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar at his residence. Our governor
(Mohammed Abubakar) had come into town and some of our stakeholders in
APC Bauchi had gone to see Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Somehow, Asiwaju (Bola
Tinubu) and one other person walked into that meeting and he did not
waste time in pushing his Gbajabiamila agenda forward.
“He
spoke passionately about the role he had played in APC, the way he had
built bridges between the South-West and the North and he appealed to my
brothers and sisters who were there, all the political leaders and
stake holders of APC from my state to prevail on me to stop this race
and support his candidate Femi Gbajabiamila to become Speaker. After he
had spoken, he left."
Atiku's stand
While
revealing all the politicking that transpired in 2015 after the
emergence of the All Progressive Congress, Dogara also took time to
narrate Atiku's stand in the whole power tussle.
Atiku Abubakar and Dr Bukola Saraki(Signal)
He said: “He
said the North-East must have a position and it was his duty as a
leader from the North-East to support that goal. And more so, because of
the religious demography of Nigeria there was the need to have a
Northern minority Christian in government as that would help to smoothen
religious engagement and relationship in the North and put paid to the
insinuation that APC was just a Muslim party.”
In
November 2017, Atiku quit the ruling party and days after returned to
the opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party, which recently held its
national convention.
Atiku had complained of neglect by the President as well as the APC after assisting the party to emerge tops in 2015.
The
former VP, who earnestly nurse a presidential ambition, is expected to
contest for the presidential ticket in PDP ahead of a potential battle
with Buhari in 2019.
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