here are indications that erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan is trying to arm-twist former President Olusegun Obasanjo to give his support to a joint Presidential ticket of erstwhile Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former Finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Sources told AljazirahNigeria that Jonathan has not given bite to the rumor that he may want to contest himself but rather he is pushing for his former subordinate, Okonjo-Iweala to take up the gauntlet alongside Atiku in 2019.

This perhaps formed the crux of discussion between the former leaders during the series of interactions they have had in recent months.

Jonathan also recently visited OBJ in his South West base a few weeks earlier in his reported move to ingratiate himself with his former political albatross.

Political pundits believe that OBJ was one of the forces that relieved Jonathan of his job in 2015 due to his constant criticism of his governance style.

Both have however mended bridges in recent months with the duo appearing together in public several times perhaps to douse tensions between the associates and fans.

AljazirahNigeria gathered that the permutation for the 2019 presidential contest is giving sleepless nights to major political gladiators in both the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Both ex-president Jonathan and the Ahmed Markafi led PDP are on the same page on the Atiku/Ngozi Okonjo Iweala ticket, it was further gathered.

However, another source close to the duo said Obasanjo may not be too comfortable with the plan and told Jonathan of his views during the recent visit he made to Ota, Ogun state.

Though, Atiku was Chief Obasanjo’s running mate for eight consecutive years, the two have been engaged in a cat and mouse relationship for many years due to political differences.

“Dr. Jonathan wants relevance in the next dispensation so as to diffuse the soaring negative effects of his political associates who are currently standing trials by the present APC regime,’’ the source said,

“His plea with the ex-leader, OBJ is to show understanding on Atiku as the most preferred candidate and also to thaw reports of the emergence of a mega party, a project believed to be Atiku’s plan B should PDP fail to cooperate politically,’’ the source added.

It was gathered that OBJ requested to know those behind Atiku’s aspirations before he could consider giving him support.

OBJ further told Jonathan in clear terms that he may adopt Ngozi Okonjo because of her South-East background and the need to carry the region along politically.

The two leaders have however agreed to meet in April to finalize their talks.

It is believed that the talks may come up earlier in the light of the controversy surrounding the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari and the political intense alignments taking place currently.

Currently, notable names like that of Kaduna governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, Sokoto governor, Hon. Aminu Tambawal and Borno governor, Alhaji Shettima are on top list of Northerners that may also throw in their hats into the ring come 2019.

Any of them may also be paired with either Dr. Orji Kalu, Dr. Ken Nnamani or Governor Rochas Okoroacha according to political analysts.

Dr. Nnamani, the former Senate President, had recently defected to the ruling APC from the PDP.

He is being backed by the ex-governor of the old Anambra state, Chief Jim Nwobodo.

http://aljazirahnews.com/jonathan-discussed-obj-visited-ota/

Is that sooo.

You can't even spell ajazeera correctly, and you want us to believe this trash came from them

tchimatic:
Is that sooo.

we say no to been ruled by this old cargos.
by 2019 both atiku n Ngozi will be clocking 72 and 65 respectively.

we need fresh blood.
a strong youth.

donsteady:
You can't even spell ajazeera correctly, and you want us to believe this trash came from them

so aljazeera is the only media house? you need to be well informed sir