Obama Invited 12 Northern Governors To Remove Jonathan – Babangida
Former Niger state governor and ex-chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Babangida Aliyu, has revealed that former United States of America President, Barack Obama, invited 12 northern governors to the US to ascertain their level of commitment in ensuring the defeat of ex-president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.
Aliyu made the claim in an advance copy of ‘Against the Run of Play’, a book written by Segun Adeniyi, set to be launched on Friday.
Recall that Jonathan had claimed that Obama, was responsible for his loss, a claim that has been denied by the US.
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Jonathan had said, “President Barack Obama and his officials made it very clear to me by their actions that they wanted a change of government in Nigeria and we’re ready to do anything to achieve that purpose. They even brought some naval ships into the Gulf of Guinea in the days preceding the election.”
Although Aliyu said he had no proof of this, he expressed the belief that the reason for their invitation to the US was deeper than discussing the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
“I have no proof of course, but I think the idea was to ascertain what the disposition of the north would be to the idea of another term for President Jonathan.
“That was my reading of the situation. I believe it was all about the 2015 election for which the Americans had resolved not to support Jonathan. They just wanted to size us up for the level of commitment to regime change,” Aliyu said.
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“If Jonathan had been clever enough to say he would not run and had stuck with the PDP zoning formula by supporting a young northern candidate, I am most certain Buhari would have shelved his ambition to contest in 2015, knowing there was no way he would win,” he added.
