NIGERIA: Senate President In Closed Door Meeting With Obasanjo

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is currently meeting with former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.



Mr. Saraki arrived Mr. Obasanjo's residence on Friday at about 9.20a.m., in company of a former Osun State Governor, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Senators Ben Bruce, Andy Uba, among others.

Two of the dignitaries who accompanied Mr. Saraki - Messrs Oyinlola and Uba - are known staunch Obasanjo loyalists.

While Mr. Oyinlola defected to the APC in 2014, Messrs Oyinlola and Bruce are members of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The visitors and their host immediately went into a closed-door meeting.

The two leaders are meeting for the first time since Mr. Saraki became Senate president in controversial circumstances.

It is not clear why the Senate President and his entourage are visiting the former President, but sources close to Mr. Saraki say the visit is essentially to "pay homage on President Obasanjo and appeal to him to reach out to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress and President Buhari to accept the new leadership of the Senate whole heartedly".

Mr. Saraki's emergence as Senate President had sparked crisis in the ruling APC, which backed his main challenger, Ahmed Lawan, for the position.

The emergence of a Peoples Democratic Party's senator, Ike Ekeremadu, as Deputy President of the Senate is believed to have irked the APC even more.

Although the party claimed it has accepted Mr. Saraki's leadership of the Senate, attempts at full reconciliation are still afoot and uneasy calm remains within the party's fold.