….. How Buhari Sealed Deal With G-7
By The New Diplomat Political Intelligence Desk
As the political calculations toward 2019 Presidential race draw nearer, amidst apprehension and fears of possible political logjam, investigations have revealed that in a rare deft political and diplomatic moves to consolidate democracy in Nigeria, former President Olusegun Obasanjo may have blocked any plots to undermine democracy in Nigeria following a multilateral Agreement he entered into with the G-7 nations to help safeguard Nigeria’s hard-earned democracy.
Reports from our field correspondents in the United States reveal that former President Obasanjo upon assuming Office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Country’s Armed Forces in 1999, signed a multilateral agreement with the G-7 Nations, with the addition of Russia, ‘’blocking any hostile attempts to undermine Nigeria’s democracy.”
Top Diplomatic sources in Washington DC confided in The New Diplomat that “ the Obasanjo’s deal with the G-7 Nations was very explicit”, stressing that “the agreement was unambiguous to the extent that going forward for Nigeria, there was a need to nurture the country’s democracy and democratic institutions.”
A top Diplomat who wishes to remain anonymous said: “The agreement was that any hostile take-over or hostile attempts to undermine Nigeria’s democracy will be thwarted and blocked by the G-7 either individually or a coalition of members.”
‘”The Agreement with Nigeria, going forward, which was brokered by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as President, I can tell you for a fact was to sustain democracy in Nigeria, there was the need to safeguard all the democratic institutions and that any attempt to undermine democracy in Nigeria whether through insurgency of Boko Haram or Terrorist acts or any hostile attempts to undermine democratic institutions will be blocked by a coalition of the G-7.That agreement still prevails. Nigeria is a blessed country. It has the population, the climate, the resources but corruption and bad leadership has not made things work,” the source said.
The G-7 is a block of industrialized democracies with the highest level of technological and military advancement and capability globally. They are the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Russia which was part of it was initially suspended at a time from the block following its annexation of Crimea. The addition of Russia makes it G-8. However, it is not certain if Russia was part of the deal with Nigeria. This could not be immediately verified.
In June 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, upon his assumption of office met with leaders of G-7 in Germany where they pledged to support Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram and other acts of insurgency, including the militancy in the volatile Niger Delta region which almost crippled oil productions in the country at that time. According to a statement issued then by SSA Media to the President, Malam Shehu Garba, the G-7 had pledged to support Buhari’s Presidency and Nigeria as a country either collectively or individually.
The New Diplomat investigations show that following heightened moves towards 2019, many presidential contenders have been heating up the political space thereby raising apprehension of a possible political crisis or logjam coupled with the ill-health of President Buhari, whom some of the aspirants are said to have ruled out of the 2019 presidential race on health grounds.
But aides to the President believe that these aspirants are only trying to play God because with the President’s steady health conditions a few weeks back, coupled with God’s intervention, he should not be ruled out of the 2019 presidential calculations.
Only recently former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar met behind closed doors with former military President, Ibrahim Babangida, to solicit the latter’s support for his presidential ambition. Also, former President Obasanjo held closed-door meetings with ex-military President Babangida recently at the former’s Minna Hilltop Mansion. It was gathered that the issues discussed centered around 2019 and consolidation of Nigeria’s democracy.
