{"id":135681,"date":"2023-12-30T10:23:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-30T10:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/30\/obasanjo-begged-me-to-step-down-for-buhari-in-2006\/"},"modified":"2023-12-30T10:23:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-30T10:23:56","slug":"obasanjo-begged-me-to-step-down-for-buhari-in-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/30\/obasanjo-begged-me-to-step-down-for-buhari-in-2006\/","title":{"rendered":"Obasanjo Begged Me To Step Down For Buhari In 2006"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n
\"No
Ahmed Yerima<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Former Governor Ahmed Yerima of Zamfara State, says he was asked to abandon his presidential ambition for Muhammadu Buhari in the buildup to the 2007 elections.<\/p>\n

According to Yerima, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo begged him through Ibrahim Babangida, a former military President, to persuade him against running for the election.<\/p>\n

Yerima spoke on Friday during a Channels Television\u2019s programme titled \u201cInside Sources,\u201d hosted by Laolu Akande, the former spokesperson of ex-Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.<\/p>\n

Yerima who was Zamfara\u2019s Governor of Zamfara from 1999 to 2007, was one of the presidential hopefuls who sought the ticket of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) ahead of the 2007 elections.<\/p>\n

In December 2006, during the ANPP national convention, Yerima climbed the podium and announced that he had stepped down for Buhari, who was also running for the position.<\/p>\n

Buhari was however declared the winner of the ANPP presidential primary.<\/p>\n

At the time, late Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua got the presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).<\/p>\n

Yar\u2019Adua was the anointed candidate of Obasanjo, who was completing his two-term tenure in 2007.<\/p>\n

Yar\u2019Adua won the 2007 presidential election, while Buhari came second.<\/p>\n

Yerima however said before the ANPP\u2019s national convention, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) agreed that Buhari should become the sole presidential candidate of the north and that other contestants in the region should step down.<\/p>\n

The former governor said he was approached by the forum to step down, adding that he told them that he would think about it.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO: \u201cOur Democracy Must Eliminate Poverty, Provide Quality Education\u201d \u2013 Tinubu<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yerima said he dropped his ambition after Babangida requested him to step down for Buhari.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Obasanjo made sure that he brought General Ibrahim Babangida, who is still alive, and begged him for me to step down. He was in PDP and I was in ANPP,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

According to him, Obasanjo did not want him to contest against Yar\u2019Adua, his anointed candidate, because he knew that the ANPP primary election would be won by him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that time, the security report showed him, according to my information, that I had all the delegates in my hand, except Kano and Katsina, I left for Buhari, at that time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had all the state chairmen of ANPP of all 36 states and Abuja supporting me. The government knew that if I got the ticket, it was going to be a very difficult task for PDP to win for Yar\u2019Adua to become president.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, Obasanjo sent an aircraft to bring IBB and requested him to please talk to me so I can step down for Yar\u2019Adua.<\/p>\n

\u201cBabangida sent the late Engineer Abdulkadir Kure, the former governor of Niger state, and even the former governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa, they were sent to come to me and to beg me to step down,\u201d Yerima said.<\/p>\n

Asked if Buhari was aware of the underground political moves, the former governor responded in affirmation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey (referring to Kure and Bafarawa) came to me in the night after 8 o\u2019clock, and after greetings, I asked my people to go out, and they said IBB sent them to me. I said yes, he said you were coming,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018The only favour he wants you to do for him is to step down for Buhari tomorrow; the convention is tomorrow.\u2019 I said, \u2018Oh my God! Please tell him I\u2019ve accepted; I\u2019ve committed myself to do the favour for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018No, he said whatever your answer is, we should call him and you will tell him by yourself.\u2019 And they called IBB and I told him, \u2018Sir, tomorrow I will step down for Buhari.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately they left, I went to the national chairman, Chief Ume-Ezeoke, and I told him that tomorrow I was going to step down for Buhari.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ahmed Yerima Former Governor Ahmed Yerima of Zamfara State, says he was asked to abandon his presidential ambition for Muhammadu Buhari in the buildup to the 2007 elections. According to Yerima, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo begged him through Ibrahim Babangida, a former military President, to persuade him against running for the election. Yerima spoke on Friday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-135681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nigeria-news"],"yoast_head":"\nObasanjo Begged Me To Step Down For Buhari In 2006 - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2023\/12\/30\/obasanjo-begged-me-to-step-down-for-buhari-in-2006\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Obasanjo Begged Me To Step Down For Buhari In 2006 - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ahmed Yerima Former Governor Ahmed Yerima of Zamfara State, says he was asked to abandon his presidential ambition for Muhammadu Buhari in the buildup to the 2007 elections. 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