Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has put to rest rumours that his visit to former president, Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Kaduna on Friday was for coalition talks.
Atiku, who led a delegation of prominent politicians on a courtesy visit to Buhari, said the visit was for the Sallah celebrations and not for any discussions on the planned coalition of political parties.
The visit comes more than 48 hours after the All Progressives Congress governors, led by Senator Hope Uzodimma, paid a similar visit to Buhari.
In a post on his official X handle, Atiku wrote, “As the Waziri Adamawa, I was obligated to be in Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations. I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations. Today, I had the opportunity to pay a post-Sallah visit to His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015-2023. It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour.”
Also with Atiku on the visit was former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufa’i, and former Governor of Sokoto State and serving Senator, Aminu Tambuwal.
Others were the former Governor of Imo State, Achike Udenwa, former Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam and former Adamawa state Governor, Jubirila Bindow, as well as former Minister of Communications, Isa Pantami.
While El-Rufa’i is now a member of the Social Democratic Party, Atiku and the rest are of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Both El-Rufa’i, Atiku, Tambuwal, and Pantami also observed Friday Jummat prayers in Kaduna.
Atiku, who also spoke with journalists after the visit, said, “We came here on a courtesy and Sallah greetings visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.”
When asked about plans to form a major opposition party, Atiku acknowledged ongoing discussions but made it clear that this was not the purpose of the visit.
“There is a plan for the major political parties to come together and form a strong opposition, but it is not part of this visit,” Atiku stated.
The former vice president described the visit as a “wonderful time” with Buhari.
The clarification became necessary due to widespread discussions among Nigerians, with many debating its implications on social media.
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