Leadership (Abuja)
Abu Nmodu
12 December 2011
Vice President Namadi Sambo yesterday paid a visit to Former Military President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida IBB in his Hilltop Residence in Minna. They entered into a closed-door meeting.
The vice president arrived the residence of IBB at 12:30 pm alongside the deputy governor of Niger State, Hon Ahmed Musa Ibeto in a Sport Range Rover jeep with registration number Katsina 736 AAA that was after the deputy governor had received him at the Minna international Airport.
Journalists who spent over three hours at IBB’s residence visit were turned back politely by the security men who said the visit was a private visit and that their principal would not want press coverage.
LEADERSHIP observed that even Niger State government officials who were in the convoy were thoroughly screened by well-armed security personnel before they were allowed into IBB’s residence.
It was gathered that the Vice President used the visit to explain the purported campaign that he is interested in the 2015 presidential election and the controversy over the removal of oil subsidy.
LEADERSHIP gathered that Sambo might also have visited IBB to welcome him back from his medical trip abroad and also to hold discussions on the polity.
Also, the vice president, who entered into a private discussion with IBB without even the Niger state deputy governor, might have used the opportunity to update him on the recent peace conference in Kaduna organised by the Arewa Consultative Forum and other developments since he (IBB) left for medical treatment abroad, two months ago.
LEADERSHIP gathered that both leaders of the North were concerned about how to bring peace to some parts of the North presently witnessing security challenges and the effect of the development on the political future of the zone.
The vice president later drove to the palace of the Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Farouk Bahago, where he also saw the Emir privately before leaving the state at about 2:30pm.
Niger State Commissioner for information Alhaji Abdulhammid Danladi, who was also in the convoy, told LEADERSHIP that the visit was a private one. He did not give any details but said it was a “brotherly visit”.
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