Jonathan paid Buhari private visit in Aso Villa

 

Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday evening paid a secret visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The meeting was held inside the President’s official residence. It was the first time Jonathan would be visiting 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 our correspondent on Sunday. Adesina, however, said he was not privy to the subject of discussion at the meeting.

A top Presidency official also confided in our correspondent that the meeting was strictly between Buhari and Jonathan.

He said the visit was made discreetly to the extent that photographs were not 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 at press time whether the two visits were connected. The present administration had 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 such as his National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); his Chief Security Officer, Mr. Gordon Obuah; and the former Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi, have either been arrested, detained or investigated.

On May 27, less than 48 hours to the end of his tenure, Jonathan had advised Buhari not to single out his administration in any probe. He said all those advising Buhari to probe his administration must also advise him to extend his probe beyond his regime or else, the probe will be seen as witch-hunting.

 

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, 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 is owing 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 witch-hunting.

“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 $1billion.

“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 at.”