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ATIKU ABUBAKAR MEETS WITH FORMER OSUN GOVERNOR, RAUF AREGBESOLA

CapitalTimesNews / 1 week

2 min read

Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has continued his political consultations with key figures across party lines, meeting with former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola. The meeting was held over breakfast at Aregbesola’s residence and was shared by Atiku on his official X handle. The encounter is the latest in a series of high-profile meetings led by Atiku, who is spearheading efforts to unite Nigeria’s opposition ahead of the 2027 presidential polls. Atiku has also met with Peter Obi, former Labour Party flagbearer, and Nasir El-Rufai, ex-governor of Kaduna State. Following their meeting, El-Rufai hinted at the seriousness of the agenda, stating, “Serious issues were discussed,” and suggesting that the opposition intends to “retire Tinubu to Lagos in 2027.” Analysts say the meeting with Aregbesola could mark a strategic move to court disenchanted APC elements as part of a broader plan to forge a formidable coalition against the incumbent. Neither Atiku nor Aregbesola has disclosed further details about their discussion, but the timing and nature of the meeting signal intensified political manoeuvring in preparation for the next election cycle. Atiku’s meeting with Aregbesola is seen as a significant development in the lead-up to the 2027 presidential polls, as it suggests that Atiku is building a coalition of opposition leaders to challenge the incumbent government. The meeting was captioned “Breakfast time at the residence of the former Governor of Osun State, Engr Rauf Aregbesola” on Atiku’s X handle.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR LEADS OPPOSITION DELEGATION ON POST-SALLAH VISIT TO EX-PRESIDENT BUHARI

CapitalTimesNews / 2 months

2 min read

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar led a delegation of opposition politicians on a post-Sallah visit to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Kaduna. The delegation included notable figures such as Senator Aminu Tambuwal, former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, and ex-Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam. Others who accompanied Atiku included the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Isah Ashiru, and a former House of Representatives member, Mohammed Kumalia, among other politicians. The visit was marked by warm interactions, with Buhari receiving the politicians at his home amid jokes and banters. Atiku described the visit as a post-Sallah homage, saying, “As the Waziri Adamawa, I was obligated to be in my Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations. I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations.” He added that the visit to Buhari was a wonderful experience, highlighting the former president’s sense of humor. “It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour,” Atiku stated in a post on his X handle. The visit underscores the enduring relationships between key figures in Nigerian politics, even beyond their tenure in office.

ATIKU MEDIA OFFICE DENIES ALLEGED MONEY TRANSACTION WITH LAGOS GOVERNOR, CALLS IT POLITICAL PROPAGANDA

CapitalTimesNews / 2 months

2 min read

The Atiku Media Office has dismissed reports linking former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to an alleged financial transaction involving Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, describing the claim as false and politically motivated. In a statement signed by Media Adviser Paul Ibe, the office condemned the allegation as a “blatant lie from the pit of hell” and a deliberate smear campaign orchestrated to serve the political interests of President Bola Tinubu. Paul Ibe stated that Atiku Abubakar has no prior acquaintance or dealings with Governor Sanwo-Olu and questioned the logic behind such a transaction, particularly during the 2023 presidential election where Tinubu was a contestant. “How is it possible for an Atiku that does not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the exchange of money?” the statement read. The Media Office suggested that the allegation was a ploy to discredit Sanwo-Olu, who is perceived to have fallen out of favor with Tinubu’s political circle, while also undermining the opposition coalition that includes Atiku Abubakar. Ibe further criticized the credibility of the report, pointing out that an unnamed aide of Sanwo-Olu was cited in the story disparaging his principal. “Pray, who does that?” he asked. The statement also challenged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to disclose the findings of its alleged investigation, emphasizing that the public, including Atiku Abubakar and Labour Party’s Peter Obi, deserves transparency. “Since the EFCC has been dragged into the arena of politics and propaganda, we challenge the anti-corruption agency to make public the outcome of its alleged investigation,” Ibe said. The Media Office demanded an immediate end to what it termed a “voyage of misadventure and campaign of calumny” against Atiku Abubakar. Paul Ibe reiterated that the former Vice President remains unshaken by such tactics and urged the public to disregard the allegations. The statement concluded with a firm warning against further attempts to tarnish Atiku Abubakar’s reputation, reaffirming his commitment to Nigeria’s political progress.

ATIKU ABUBAKAR CONDEMNS PRESIDENT TINUBU’S DECLARATION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE

CapitalTimesNews / 3 months

1 min read

Former Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State. In a statement, Atiku described the declaration as “reeking of political manipulation and outright bad faith.” Atiku accused President Tinubu of being a “vested partisan actor” in the political turmoil in Rivers State, and criticized his refusal to prevent the escalation of the crisis. “Tinubu cannot evade responsibility for the chaos his administration has either enabled or failed to prevent,” Atiku said. He also expressed concern that the declaration would punish the people of Rivers State, rather than addressing the root causes of the crisis. “Punishing the people of Rivers State just to serve the political gamesmanship between the governor and Tinubu’s enablers in the federal government is nothing less than an assault on democracy and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Atiku stated. Atiku further lamented that the crisis has undone the hard-won peace secured by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, and has thrown the Niger Delta back into an era of violent unrest and instability.

2027 POLL: EL-RUFAI SLICES, DICES TINUBU, RIBADU, SANI (1)

CapitalTimesNews / 3 months
0
8 min read

By Ehichioya Ezomon Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark, elder statesman, former Federal Commissioner, Leader of the Ijaw Nation, and Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), died on Monday, February 17, 2025, aged 97. Since his passing, the family home in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has become a melting port for “our leaders” to sympathise with the bereaved. What such a solemn occasion demands of the visitors is an expression of genuine sympathy and empathy mostly for the demised’s family members, friends and associates, the people of their tribal and ethnic nationality, State of origin and the entire country. This is done amid reminiscences of the life and times of the departed, especially a personality of Clark’s standing, an unpretentious patriot and nationalist, whose voice of reasoning and moderation on issues of equity, fairness, justice, and national cohesion rang loudly till he breathed his last on earth. Politicians – individually and severally – have been queueing to show their faces and pay last respects to the Patriarch of the Niger Delta. Friday, February 21, was “the turn” of a coterie of opposition members to pay a “condolence visit” to the Clark family. Peopled mainly by Northern politicians, and led by former Vice President and thrice Presidential Candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the group postures for a political platform for an alliance, a coalition or a merger that can remove the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and President Bola Tinubu from power in 2027. It’s debatable whether it’s Atiku that led the “condolence visitors,” but among the delegation was the new “enfant terrible” (a person who behaves in an unconventional or controversial way) of Northern politics, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna State Governor (2015-2023) and ex-Minister of the FCT. El-Rufai boasts of rallying, for the 2027 poll, a similar opposition movement that transformed into the APC in February 2013, and defeated then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. Imbued with such a self-imposed responsibility, el-Rufai, at the condolence visit, veered into the politics of 2027 presidential contest, and craved for a North-South-South alignment to “rescue Nigeria” from the Tinubu administration. El-Rufai urged the people of Niger Delta to continue with the good work of Pa Clark, noting that he really played a fatherly role throughout his lifetime. “I think the legacy of E.K. Clark and the work he has done should remind us all of the importance of being courageous, standing up for justice and risking everything for Nigeria,” el-Rufai said. Reflecting on the historical bond between the North and South-South, and imploring political stakeholders to restore that collaboration for the nation’s survival, el-Rufai declared: “In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, the North’s traditional political partners were from the South-South. Let us not forget that. Let us go back to that. Let us save this country because it really requires saving. We need a rescue operation.” As a pointer to whose trumpet the group blows, el-Rufai praised Atiku for his contributions to Nigeria’s economic development, particularly during his tenure as Vice President under President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999 to 2007). “Atiku was at the forefront of economic reforms that repositioned Nigeria during the Obasanjo administration,” el-Rufai said, adding, “Atiku’s role in attracting investment and restructuring the economy was crucial” – implying that an Atiku presidency will replicate what he did in government over two decades ago. El-Rufai’s solicitation reveals the actual purpose for the opposition visit to the Clark family: To capitalise on the emotional state of the bereaved, to score political points, and backing for a Northern presidency in 2027, unmindful of the zoning of the Presidency between the North and South of Nigeria every eight years. Embarking on an anti-Tinubu campaign, that the president hasn’t performed, and should be replaced in 2027, el-Rufai and his Northern colleagues make nothing of the zoning arrangement between the North and South that ensures equitable representation in a diverse society as Nigeria. For them, that “arrangement” was blatantly “breached” in 2011 when President Jonathan and the PDP refused the North to pick a Northerner to complete the “eight-year tenure” of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who died in 2010. Then-Vice President Jonathan from the South (and South-South) stepped in to complete the barely one-year remaining of Yar’Adua’s first term in office, and was supposed to pave the way for a Northerner to round-off the last four years of the Yar’Adua presidency. But Dr Jonathan refused to step down or step aside; and egged on by cheerleaders, he’s “coronated” as the PDP candidate, and subsequently won the presidential poll in 2011. If Northerners were mollified in 2011 to allow Jonathan to “usurp” the remaining four years of the Yar’Adua presidency, they didn’t condone a similar antic in 2015 when Jonathan wanted a “Third Term” – as critics put it, taking cognizance of his being sworn-in twice in 2010 (to succeed Yar’Adua) and 2011. Jonathan discountenanced his Oath of Office in 2010, whereas the amended 1999 Constitution of Nigeria states that, upon the resignation, removal or death of the President, the Vice President shall assume the position, to complete the term (not tenure), and could seek a second term if he hadn’t been sworn-in twice as President. Not surprising, Jonathan faced stiff opposition from within the PDP, especially in the North, during the 2015 election, to the extent that the party leadership in the region, and members of his campaign council sold out and betrayed him on Election Day. For instance, Atiku – who’d defected to, and run for President under then-Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007, and returned to the PDP before the 2011 election – led five PDP governors to walk out of the National Convention in 2014, and formed a factional New Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP), which later dissolved into the APC, to wrest power from the PDP and Jonathan in 2015. On the APC side as the main opposition, el-Rufai was a major actor in the scotched-earth campaign that prevented Jonathan from being re-elected in 2015. Going personal (as he does currently) el-Rufai, on

BREAKING: ATIKU, TAMBUWAL, IMOKE IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING WITH OBASANJO

Nicolas Adekeye / 4 months

1 min read

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last general election, is currently in a closed-door meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Atiku, who served as Vice-President to Obasanjo from 1999 to 2007, arrived at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL) Complex in Abeokuta at 12:37 pm, accompanied by Senator Aminu Tambuwal and Liyel Imoke, former Governor of Cross River State. The meeting, which also includes Senator Abdul Ningi, representing Bauchi Central, is shrouded in secrecy, but speculation suggests it may be related to the current political climate in the country. Atiku’s visit comes after he recently hosted former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi at his residence in Adamawa State. Details of the meeting remain undisclosed, but it is believed to be part of efforts by opposition politicians to strategize and form alliances against the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Details Later…

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MANY KILLED IN BORNO...

TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN...

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ARCHBISHOP KAIGAMA DELIVERS HOMILY...

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MANY KILLED IN BORNO...

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ATIKU ABUBAKAR MEETS WITH FORMER OSUN GOVERNOR, RAUF AREGBESOLA

ATIKU ABUBAKAR LEADS OPPOSITION DELEGATION ON POST-SALLAH VISIT TO EX-PRESIDENT BUHARI

ATIKU MEDIA OFFICE DENIES ALLEGED MONEY TRANSACTION WITH LAGOS GOVERNOR, CALLS IT POLITICAL PROPAGANDA

ATIKU ABUBAKAR CONDEMNS PRESIDENT TINUBU’S DECLARATION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY IN RIVERS STATE

2027 POLL: EL-RUFAI SLICES, DICES TINUBU, RIBADU, SANI (1)

BREAKING: ATIKU, TAMBUWAL, IMOKE IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING WITH OBASANJO

NIGERIAN TROOPS ARREST PAKISTANI NATIONALS WITH.

MANY KILLED IN BORNO BUS STOP.

TWO SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH.

LAGOS-CALABAR COASTAL ROAD COMMISSIONING SPARKS CRITICISM.

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