Goodluck Jonathan in secret meeting with Buhari

Firstclass newsline has gathered that the former President Goodluck
Jonathan on Thursday night paid a secret visit to President Muhammadu
Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
At the meeting held inside the President's official residence, no
third person was admitted and no photograph of the night visit by
Jonathan was allowed.
The visit was Jonathan's first time at the Presidential Villa since he
left in the morning of May 29 for the Eagles Square, where Buhari took
his oath of office and allegiance as his (Jonathan's) successor.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi
Adesina, confirmed Jonathan's visit and meeting with Buhari to a
source on Sunday.
Adesina however said he was not privy to the subject of the discussion
at the meeting.
A top Presidency official also confided in firstclass newsline that
the meeting was strictly between Buhari and Jonathan and that no
photographs were taken.
"Nobody was with them. I am sure they don't want the visit to be an
item in the media. That probably explains why the former President
visited at night and went straight to the residence. They met for a
few minutes in the President's residence," the official said.
The following day, however, Buhari also played host to former
President Olusegun Obasanjo.
But unlike Jonathan's visit, one of the photographers attached to the
President was able to capture the two leaders.
It was not clear as of press time whether the two visits were in any
way connected.
But a source learnt that Obasanjo, during his meeting with Buhari,
told the President to ensure that all funds stolen under the Jonathan
administration were recovered in order to strengthen the President's
anti-corruption image in the international community.
A Presidency source, who confided in firstclass newsline, said that
Obasanjo did not raise the issue of appointments with Buhari.
"He (Obasanjo) argued that the anti-graft war will further raise the
reputation of the Buhari administration at the international
community. The former President also said stolen funds should be
recovered," the source said.
The Buhari administration has been investigating some activities of
Jonathan's administration with government officials claiming that the
past administration was characterised by impunity and large-scale
corruption.
Apart from probing the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the
present administration is also beaming its searchlight on the
management of the Excess Crude Account under Jonathan.
Some former aides of the ex-President, including the former National
Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Jonathan's Chief Security
Officer, Mr. Gordon Obuah; and the former Director-General of Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi,
had either been arrested, detained or investigated.
On the eve of his departure from office, Jonathan had on May 27
advised Buhari not to single out his administration for any probe.
He said all those advising Buhari to probe his administration must
also advise him to extend his probe beyond his regime, lest the probe
be seen as a witch-hunt.
Jonathan said, "Some people are even calling for the probe of this
government. I agree that in Nigeria, there are a number of things that
we will probe, very many things.
"Even debts owed by states and this nation from 1960 up to this time,
they are saying it is Jonathan's administration that owes all the
debts.
"I believe that anybody calling for probe must ensure that these
probes are extended beyond the Jonathan administration, otherwise to
me, it will be a witch-hunt.
"If you are very sincere, then it is not just the Jonathan's
administration that should be probed. A number of things have gone
wrong and we have done our best to fix them. The Attorney-General is
aware of massive judgments debts, if we aggregate all of them, it is
about $1bn.
"How did we come to this kind of huge judgment debts? These issues
should be probed.
"How do you allocate our oil wells, oil fields, marginal wells and
others? Do we follow our laws? All these should be probed. I believe
all these and many more areas should be looked into."
Jonathan' ascendancy to the Presidency was believed to have been made
possible by Obasanjo's support but the two have since parted ways with
Obasanjo constantly attacking Jonathan's government as corrupt.
Also, Jonathan, at a point during the electioneering, reportedly
referred to Obasanjo as a "motor park tout."
Firstclassnewsline.net