Loyalists of the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu, yesterday, expressed displeasure over the presence of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo at the London meeting Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and his allies had with presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, despite being reportedly committed to their cause.
This came on a day Governor Wike said he will disclose his preferred presidential candidate, ahead of the 2023 elections soon.
It will be recalled that Governor Wike and his allies met with Obasanjo and Obi on the need to form an alliance ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Similarly, Tinubu and some of his allies had met with the former President at his Abeokuta residence to seek Obasanjo’s blessing and support, last week.
However, Obasanjo denied reports that he endorsed Tinubu during the visit of the APC presidential candidate.
His Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi, refuted statements from supporters of Tinubu, clarifying that the discussion during the visit was “more brotherly than political.”
Chief Obasanjo’s aide further said the former President had neither agreed nor disapproved of Tinubu’s request.
A source close to the Tinubu camp told Vanguard Newspapers that Obasanjo’s presence at the meeting was at the instance of Obi.
He said: “First, it was the Wike camp that leaked the London meeting with Obasanjo and Obi, and secondly, it was because of Peter Obi that Obasanjo was present at the meeting with the Wike camp.
“The Wike camp did not want the story leaked by someone else and that informed their decision to leak the story and picture that they met with Obasanjo and Obi.
“Obasanjo was at the London meeting at the instance of Obi. The Wike camp wanted to meet Peter Obi but Obi requested that Obasanjo should be present before the meeting could hold.
“The Tinubu people were not happy that Baba (Obasanjo) was there (London) because they felt Baba had committed himself when they met with him in Abeokuta. They felt Baba was already committed to them (Tinubu’s camp) and so when he (Obasanjo) met with Wike, alongside Obi, the Tinubu camp was not happy that he was part of the London meeting with Wike and Obi.”
