Atiku, El-Rufai, Tambuwal, Others Visit Buhari, Speak on Plan for Strong Opposition Party

John Shiklam in Kaduna

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that there are plans by major political parties to form a strong opposition ahead of the 2027 election.

Atiku stated this yesterday during a visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari at his residence in Kaduna.
The former Vice President was accompanied on the visit by former governors Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto, Gabriel Suswam of Benue, Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa and Achike Udenwa of Imo, among others.

In an interview with journalists after the visit, Atiku said the visit was for Sallah greetings to the former president.
On Tuesday, governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) paid a similar visit to Buhari.
Atiku said the visit to Buhari had nothing to do with plans to form a strong opposition.
“There is plan for the major political parties to come together and form a strong opposition, but it is not part of our visit,” Atiku said while fielding questions from journalists.

Also, on his  verified X handle, Atiku said he had  “wonderful time” with former President Buhari during the visit.
“As the Wazirin Adamawa, I was obligated to be in Adamawa during the Sallah celebrations.
” I held forth for the Lamido Fombina (Adamawa) in some of the activities of the Sallah celebrations.
“Today, I had the opportunity to pay a post-Sallah visit to His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2015-2023.

“It was a wonderful time with him. As usual, he cracked me up (to the extent that my ribs were hurting) with his peculiar humour,” he said on his X handle.
Also speaking, el-Rufai, who was accompanied by some of his former aides, said the visit  was to pay Sallah homage to Buhari.
“We are here to pay Sallah visit to former President Muhammadu Buhari because I was not around during the Sallah period,” he said.