2007: Northern governors split over presidential candidates
Stanley Yakubu, Kaduna
Attempts by some state governors in the north who are said to be rooting for either Vice-President Atiku Abubakar or former president Ibrahim Babangida in the 2007 presidential election to mobilise their colleagues for their preferred candidates may have suffered a setback.
A meeting convened on Wednesday in Kaduna by northern governors at which the issue of 2007 presidency was broached ended in a deadlock.
The governors alleged to be rooting for Abubakar are those of Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe States among others, while those said to be backing the aspiration of Babangida are those of Niger, Sokoto and Bauchi States, among others.
The emergency meeting which took place in Sir Kashim House which is the Executive Council chambers of Kaduna State Government, according to sources, had as one of its agenda, the 2007 presidency.
It was held for four hours behind closed doors.
Journalists were barred from covering the opening ceremony, which was also attended by the Speakers of the 19 State Houses of Assembly in the North.
Although, the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum and Governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Ibrahim Samiru Turaki, told reporters that the governors and Speakers of the 19 State Houses of Assembly in the north discussed both regional and national issues, he did not talk about the resolutions reached at the meeting.
�We met with the Speakers Forum, we discussed about regional and national issues, we discussed the 2007 presidency, we discussed about the incorporation of rotational presidency into the constitution and we also talked about the 2005 census.
�We have fixed another meeting for either the first or second week of December 2004,� Turaki disclosed.
A dependable source at the meeting who confided in our correspondent said, �the issue of 2007 presidency was so hot that, the governors and speakers in attendance were sharply divided along the ambitions of Atiku and IBB.
�From the tone of the discussions, it was clear that, some governors wanted the forum to declare support for one candidate, and that is the Vice-President.
�But there were a few others who said, to do so is dangerous, since it was still too early to declare support for one person now.
�However, from what happened today, it seems to me that the Atiku factor is very strong particularly among the PDP governors.�
Our correspondent gathered that at a point some of the governors like the Borno State Governor, Senator Ali Sheriff and his counterpart from Nassarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, had to leave the meeting.
But Turaki insisted that the Northern governors� meeting was a fruitful one as �we discussed issues of common interest.�
