With Mumini Abdulkareem
The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola
Tinubu, and the presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples
Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, met briefly on Saturday.
The brief discussion took place when the two prominent politicians ran
into each other at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.
Tinubu’s spokesman, Mr Tunde Rahman, shared a picture of the encounter
on his Facebook page on Sunday.
In the picture, Tinubu and Atiku who held each other’s hands, were
seen engrossed in a discussion while the Adamawa State Governor,
Ahmadu Fintiri, was seen listening to them with rapt attention.
The caption of the picture as posted by Rahman read, โAsiwaju Bola
Tinubu and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar exchanging views when
they ran into each other at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport,
Abuja.
โAsiwaju was on his way to Minna, Niger State to receive a honorary
doctorate from the IBB University, Lapai and former VP, Kaduna for a
wedding.
โThey were flanked by Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri.โ
Recall that ahead of the 2015 presidential election won by the
President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), both Tinubu and
Atiku, as party leaders, worked for the APC.
Atiku was one of the party’s presidential aspirants who lost to Buhari
at the party’s primary held in Lagos.
After Buhari won the election, however, Atiku and some other prominent
politicians like the then President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; the
then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; Sokoto
State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, among
others returned to the PDP.
Atiku contested the PDP’s presidential ticket for the 2019 election at
the party’s primary held in Port Harcourt and won.
Unlike in 2015 when he and Tinubu were in the same camp, they were in
opposing camps during the 2019 elections and they are still in
opposing camps as of now.
The photograph has been generating reactions with commentators warning
supporters who maim or kill because of their political leaders to
learn from the two leaders.
