A delegation led by former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar had a closed-door mmeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Monday.
Among the delegation were former governors of Cross River and Sokoto states, Liyel Imoke and Senator Aminu Tambuwal.
Also, a ranking senator representing Sokoto South, Abdul Ningi was part of the entourage.
In various reports, the former vice president and his entourage arrived the Olusegun Obasanjo presidential library, Abeokuta at about 12:36 pm on Monday.
Journalists were, however barred from having access to the venue, with stern looking security operatives stationed everywhere around the house
Resultantly, the agenda of the meeting was not known as of press time but it comes amid plans by opposition politicians to map out strategies to form an alliance against the All Progressives Congress (APC) and win the 2027 presidential election.
Recently, the Turakin Adamawa hosted former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, at his residence in Adamawa State.
Why I visited Obasanjo – Atiku
Meanwhile, the former vice president has explained why he visited his former boss, Obasanjo in Abeokuta, Ogun State on Monday.
The former PDP presidential candidate, who was accompanied by former governors Liyel Imoke and Tambuwall, and Senator, Abdul Ningi, when asked details of the closed-door meeting that lasted about 1 hour 30 minutes., told newsmen that it was just a courtesy visit and declined further comment.
“It’s just a courtesy visit please, I am not going to talk about politics please,” he said.
NEW DAILY PRIME reports that Atiku was the Vice-President to Obasanjo between 1999 and 2007.
He has since contested to be the main man for more than three times, albeit unsuccessfully, losing to Former military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari twice and the incumbent president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2023.
Political watchers and analysts are of the opinion that the former vice president considers 2027 to be his last shot at the presidency, hence his desperation/efforts to forge alliances to upstage President Tinubu.
However, after Atiku hosted former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, at his Adamawa State residence recently, the former Anambra governor came out to dispel any plan to go into any alliance for the sole purpose of grabbing power for its sake or toppling Tinubu.
The former governor declared emphatically that, while he is not against alliances, he would only consider it for the sole purpose of lifting Nigerians out of poverty and developing the nation.
Similarly, the third leading opposition party in Nigeria, going by the number of votes it garnered in 2023 elections, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had also dismissed any proposed merger with PDP or Labour Party for the purpose of winning the 2027 presidential polls.
NNPP’s standard bearer in the (2023) election, Alhaji Rabiu Kwankwaso was furious when the news that he has conceded the hunt for the presidency to former vice president Atiku filtered into town, dismissing the news as untrue and fake.
The former Kano State governor declared that there was never a time that he agreed for a rotational agreement that would see Atiku first spend four years as the president, following which Obi will succeed him (Atiku) and lastly, him (Kwankwaso) mounting the saddle after Obi.
With unfolding events, it is clear to see that the opposition will have to come together to forge a formidable alliance to oust President Tinubu like the kind of mega alliance of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and a splinter group from Peoples Democratic Party, christened N-PDP to uproot then-President, Goodluck Jonathan.
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Zelensky says North Korean troops back on front line
After withdrawal over heavy death toll, North Korean troops back on battlefront front line
Ukraine’s president says North Korean forces have returned to the front line in Russia’s western Kursk region, after reports they were withdrawn last month due to heavy casualties.
In a video address on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian army had “brought back in North Korean soldiers” who were carrying out “new assaults” in the region partially occupied by Ukraine.
He added “hundreds of Russian and North Korean military” personnel had been “destroyed”.
In January, Western officials told the BBC they believed at least 1,000 of the 11,000 troops sent from North Korea had been killed in the past three months. North Korea and Russia have not commented.
Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The fighting has led to heavy losses on both sides.
Last week, Ukrainian special forces fighting in Kursk told the BBC they had not seen any North Korean troops there for the past 21 days.
A spokesman said it was probable they had been pulled out after suffering heavy combat losses.
The spokesman added that he was only referring to areas where his forces were fighting, without giving any details about how long that front line was.
Recent reports attributed to South Korean intelligence have suggested the North Koreans soldiers are unprepared for modern warfare, and are especially vulnerable to Ukrainian drones.
Military experts say the reports of North Korean casualties, if they continue at this pace, are unsustainable.
The soldiers were deployed after Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un deepened bilateral ties in recent months, including signing a security and defence treaty.
Pyongyang’s assistance to Moscow now also extends to large amounts of ammunition and weapons.
The troops were also seen to have been sent to boost Russia’s fighting forces who have seen significant losses.
Russia’s military has not publicly revealed its battlefield casualties since September 2022, when it said 5,937 soldiers had been killed.
But Ukraine’s president said this week up to 350,000 Russian soldiers had been killed, and other reports suggest that number could be significantly higher.
Zelensky put Ukraine’s military casualties at 45,100 – but a number of military experts in both Ukraine and the West believe the losses are much higher.
Ukrainian troops launched a lightning offensive in Kursk six months ago, seizing more than 1,000 sq km (386 sq miles) of Russian territory.
Since then, Russian forces have managed to retake a sizeable chunk of the region.
However, Zelensky on Friday told Reuters news agency that Ukraine had launched a new offensive in Kursk on Thursday, advancing 2.5km (1.5 miles).
Russia’s military said the Ukrainian attacks had been repelled.
The claims by the warring sides have not been independently verified.
In other key developments on Friday:
·Russia’s military said its forces captured a key town of Toretsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region – but a Ukrainian military spokesman said fighting was continuing in the industrial hub
·US President Donald Trump said he would “probably be meeting President Zelensky next week, and I will probably be talking to President Putin. I’d like to see that war end.”
