Obasanjo, Abdusalami, Ooni, Sultan, others to meet over insecurity

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-military head of state, Abdulsalami Abubakar, traditional leaders and elder statesmen are set to hold a crucial session over the dire security situation and festering secessionist agitations in the country.

The meeting which was billed to hold on Thursday, May 27 is now slated for June 10 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja.

Those expected to attend the meeting include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and a former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, John Cardinal Onaiyekan.

A letter signed by Obasanjo obtained by one of our correspondents read in part, “I am pleased to invite you on behalf of the Interfaith Initiatives for Peace jointly led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar; John Cardinal Onaiyekan, National Peace Committee chaired by General Abdulsalami Abubakar and Socio-Cultural Consultative Committee for Goodness of Nigeria to an exploratory meeting on pressing issues of national unity, security, peace, integration, economic revitalisation and development, women and youth, welfare and general progress.”

In the invitation letter dated May 6, 2021, the former President asked participants to contact Ambassador Ahmed Magaji on transportation.

Other groups expected to attend include the Yoruba sociocultural group, Afenifere; Igbo group, Ohanaeze; Pan Niger Delta Forum; and the Middle Belt Forum.

Recall that the Presidency had reacted angrily when it heard that a legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), announced a plan to hold a conference on security and other issues in the country.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, issued a statement on May 4 accusing those behind the conference of planning to pass a vote of no confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adesina’s statement read in part, “Championed by some disgruntled religious and past political leaders, the intention is to eventually throw the country into a tailspin, which would compel a forceful and undemocratic change of leadership.

“Further unimpeachable evidence shows that these disruptive elements are now recruiting the leadership of some ethnic groups and politicians round the country, with the intention of convening some sort of conference, where a vote of no confidence would be passed in the President, thus throwing the land into further turmoil.”