Atiku Abubakar has explained his visit to President Muhammadu Buhari following the first post-election meeting between the two former political sparring partners.
Newsmen report that Atiku who backed Buhari to become president after losing to him in the All Progressives Congress, APC presidential primaries of 2014 crossed over to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP during which he bid but failed to stop Buhari’s second term in 2019.
Buhari on his part backed his party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election and did not yield to entreaties to back a fellow Fulani in the main election.
The two men met for the first time in public on Saturday and were all smiles despite claims in different sectors that Buhari betrayed Atiku either as a Fulani or the nation by supposedly covering up the alleged rigging of the 2023 presidential election.
Paul Ibe, Atiku’s media adviser in a statement explaining the visit said:
On Saturday, 22 June, former Vice President of Nigeria and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar led other stakeholders of the party to the Daura residence of former late governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawan Kaita on a condolence visit over the loss of the matriarch of the family.
The visit, which was greeted with warm reception of Atiku across major townships of the Daura Emirate also saw the former Vice President paying similar courtesy visits to the the Emir of Daura, HRH Alhaji Farouk Umar Farouk and the former President Muhammadu Buhari. He also paid a courtesy visit to the Emir of Katsina, HRH Abdulmumini Kabir Usman.
A press statement from the Atiku Media Office on Saturday stated that the visit was meant for Atiku to express his love for Katsina State in particular and to familiarize with distinguished personalities of the Daura Emirate.
“The meeting of His Excellency Atiku Abubakar to Katsina State today is essentially a continuation of his courtesy visits since the end of Sallah celebrations and, especially to condole with the family of his late old friend, Mallam Lawan Kaita,” the statement signed by Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe said.
Newsmen report that the meeting with Buhari follows the visit by Atiku to Gen Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar in Minna. However, the meeting to Daura was passed over more as a side attraction to the condolence visit to the Kaita family perhaps underlining the fact that Atiku may not have considered consultation with Buhari as the reason for the Katsina visit.
