In the last couple of days, Nigerians have witnessed high-wired political horse trading going on in the city of London with barely six months to Presidential elections back home.
Two separate pictures have emerged confirming the meeting or meetings and the calibre of the political dramatis persona involved in the great “Mission to London”.
In one of the pictures, the Presidential candidate of the main opposition, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Atiku Abubakar finally met one-on-one with the strong man of Rivers State, Governor Nysom Wike ostensibly to clear few cloudy issues left in previous discussions held in Nigeria.
The camps of both men met Friday last week in Port Harcourt with significant concessions especially on the part of Wike- one of which was that he will remain in PDP and not go anywhere else no matter what.
Insiders revealed that Wike also agreed to join in the PDP Presidential campaign team for Atiku, even though he showed little or no interest at all in being the Director-General.
There are however a few stumbling blocks needed to be leveled for there to be headway.
One of such knotty issues left untied is whether or not PDP and Atiku can accede to Wike’s wish that the party’s National Chairman, Senator Iyorcha Ayu stepped down and pave the way for a Southern party Chief, and balance of power in the party.
Political watchers have faulted the timing of that proposition describing it as ” a recipe for disaster”, on the eve of elections.
The other grey area is an alleged demand from Wike’s camp asking Atiku to sign and provide indemnity that he will serve a single term.
It is however not certain if Atiku and Wike were able to advance any further in their discussions in London from where they left off back home in Nigeria. But like they say, time will tell.
In the time being, everything seemed hidden behind the clouds and the distance of 5 hours flight from Abuja to London.
But from the safe distance of London has also emerged the picture of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the Presidential candidate of Labour Party(LP), Peter Obi, Wike and the same PDP Governors who had previously met with Atiku?
While there are enough reasons to suggest that the two pictures were taken intervals of minutes or hours from each other; what is not so clear is if they were taken from the same or separate meetings in London.
A closer look at both pictures showed that Wike, Ikpeazu, Ortom who can be seen in both pictures had same clothes on in both pictures, suggesting they met with Atiku and Obj the same in London or was it at the same meeting?
Why is Obasanjo meeting with Wike and Obi at a meeting where Atiku may not be too far away from?
Even more perplexing is that the picture of Obasanjo meeting with Wike, Obi and 4 PDP Governors surfaced barely two days after Wike reportedly met with the Presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu in that same London and about a week after Tinubu himself met with Obasanjo in Abeokuta.
London has always occupied a significant reference point in Nigeria’s political history that dated back to the Colonial era.
The city has provided neutral grounds for a good number of talks in the past regarding the future of Nigeria.
In fact, a good number of the constitution conferences leading eventually to the independence of Nigeria in 1960 took place in London.
With six months to another Presidential election in Nigeria, modern “Missions to London” have become frequent, with political gladiators returning to the city where Nigeria future was first forged and signed as a country.
Will London hold the same old magic in shaping and influencing the directions Nigeria should take in 2023?
Editor : Ena Agbanoma
