The First Lady, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday extended an invitation to host all Presidential aspirants of various political parties tomorrow at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja, for the break of Ramadan fast dinner (Iftar).
It was gathered that the invited personalities were instructed to drop their mobile devices at home and only carry their invitation cards, which would serve as the only entry permit for the event.
So far, those who have indicated interest to contest the Presidential election include Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar; the All Progressives Congress (APC) national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi and former Presidents of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim and Bukola Saraki respectively.
Others are the governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike; his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello and that of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi; that of Sokoto and Bauchi states, Aminu Tambuwal and Bala Mohammed respectively.
Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha; Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige; Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, businessman Isa Hayatudeen, among others have also indicated interest to contest the presidential elections next year.
However, it was gathered that the directive to them not to approach the venue with phones would not apply to Osinbajo and other governors and ministers, who are expected to be at the meeting.
Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Wife of the President, Aliyu Abdullahi, who confirmed the development, said: “There is no issue here. This is a standard operational protocol in the Villa when you are having either of the three occupants of the Presidency in attendance. If they are coming for an event, this is supposed to be DSS-enforced.
MEANWHILE, some critical stakeholders and opinion moulders, yesterday, shared divergent views over the invitation. While some view the development as strange and unwarranted, wondering in what capacity the President’s wife is meeting with aspirants, others said the woman has demonstrated a kind of maturity and understanding, which her husband lacks and had failed to show in the last seven years.
Although the majority of senior members of the ruling APC, especially from the Southern region, bluntly refused to react to the development, stakeholders from opposition parties said the First Lady has simply demonstrated her managerial and accommodative spirit, which the President lacks.Commending Aisha for the move, spokesman of Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Isuwa Dogo, said: “With what she has done, I feel Nigeria would have been better administered if she was the president.
This is motherly care and love for the country, basically on the fact that she simply wanted the aspirants to eschew campaign of calumny against one another, but rather concentrate on their promise and vision, instead of being desperate to bring down one another.
”Dogo added that since it was an invitation and not a summoning, whoever is not interested can as well distance him or herself from the meeting. “It has nothing to do with the Constitution and she has not really gone out of her way.
Her intention is clear, which is simply to fraternise with aspirants to eschew bitterness as we are beginning to witness among them.”Similarly, National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, commended the move, saying: “At least, President Buhari’s family must have begun to realise some of its mistakes and now trying to make corrections at the twilight of the administration.
”Uwazuruike, however, stated that the development should not worry any of the aspirants invited to the meeting, stressing that “even if it was not spelt out in the invitation card, there is no way they could be allowed to go into the dinner with their phones.
”But sharing a divergent view, the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum said Mrs. Buhari has no capacity to summon presidential aspirants and that those who honour such invitation are not worthy of being elected as president.
President of the forum, Akin Malaolu, described the invitation as an insult to party politics and if allowed to scale through without being interrogated, Nigeria may be heading towards a one-party state with some arm-twisting tactics of the ruling party.
