The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate for the 2027 election, Atiku Abubakar, on Thursday visited his major opponent in the primaries, former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi.

DAILY POST reports that Atiku defeated Amaechi in the recently concluded ADC presidential primary election.

Amaechi had prior to the official announcement of Atiku as winner of the election, rejected the outcome, saying the process was marred by irregularities.

However, Atiku had in his acceptance speech, called on Amaechi and other aggrieved ADC members to work with him.

Details of Thursday’s meeting have not been ascertained as the politicians are yet to address the press.

But it is believed that the move is part Atiku’s efforts to get Amaechi’s support for the presidential election.

A director of research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Femi Otubanjo, has said the treatment of Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, in the just concluded All Progressives Congress, APC, primary poses political danger to President Bola Tinubu.

Otubanjo stated this on Thursday while speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme, where he criticised the role being played by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in the political affairs of Rivers State and the All Progressives Congress, APC.

According to him, the handling of Fubara’s political crisis remains one of the most surprising developments in Nigeria’s political history. 

Otubanjo further argued that Wike, who is not a member of the APC, appears to be dictating political activities within the ruling party in Rivers State.

The research director warned that the current political arrangement in Rivers State could negatively affect Tinubu politically, insisting that Wike was pursuing his personal agenda rather than that of the president.

He said: “The treatment of Fubara must be one of the American wonders of Nigerian politics. Fubara has been badly treated. We have a situation in which Nyesom Wike who is not even in the APC is the one taking decision for the primary in the APC. I hope the tactical team of President Bola Tinubu is not sleeping.

“The reality is that what they have done is very dangerous for Tinubu. What has emerged in Rivers today is that Wike is pursing his own agenda, not Tinubu’s agenda in spite of PBAT and all of that combination.

“If Wike really wants to pursue Tinubu’s agenda, he must retain Fubara.”

Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has insisted that Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and former governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje remain his political protégés despite recent tensions within Kano politics.

Kwankwaso remarked on Wednesday while addressing members of the Kwankwasiyya movement at his Miller Road residence in Kano.

His comments appeared to be in response to recent remarks linked to Governor Yusuf, who reportedly questioned why a 69-year-old politician would refer to a 63-year-old man as “his boy”.

Speaking before a large gathering, Kwankwaso joked about the controversy, saying, “I was made to understand that a few don’t want to be referred to as my boy,” a statement that drew laughter from the audience.

He then spoke more directly in Hausa, insisting that both men rose politically under his guidance.

“If it is not out of disrespect, will Abba Kabir Yusuf say he is not my political son? If it is not out of disrespect, will Abdullahi Umar Ganduje say he is not my political son?” he said.

The audience responded with loud applause as Kwankwaso defended his role as a political mentor to the two prominent Kano politicians.

Ganduje had previously admitted to working side by side with Kwankwaso but clarified that theirs was not a political godfather-son relationship.

In an interview with the BBC, he said he was invited to serve as Kwankwaso’s deputy during their first tenure after losing in the primaries. He added that the decision to align during the second tenure was Kwankwaso’s own choice.