A political group, the National Intervention Movement, has denied any link with former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), one of the arrowheads of the NIM, said the group was different from the Coalition for Nigeria, another group being spearheaded by Obasanjo.
The NIM has the Convener of the Political Summit Group, Mr. Olawale Okuniyi, as its Director General; and Agbakoba as Chairman of its National Steering Committee.
Other members of the Agbakoba-led committee are a former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke; foremost political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Kemi George; labour activist, Isa Aremu; Dr. Abduljalil Tafawa Balewa, Rabiu Isaiku Rabiu and Senator Abubakar Gada.
Agbakoba, responding to an enquiry by our correspondent, dissociated NIM from Obasanjo’s CN.
His terse response read, “No connection.”
The senior lawyer could not be reached on the telephone on Sunday to give more details on the differences between the two groups.
Okuniyi had at the official inauguration of the movement in November 2017, said, “We deliberated on reviewing the problem of Nigeria which is more political than economic.
“We decided it is better to find a collective solution to the problem that we should initiate a national political movement. We decided to set up a National Intervention Movement; we are to merge with all other formations to find this solution.”
On the other hand, Obasanjo in his controversial ‘special press statement’ released on Tuesday titled, ‘The Way Out: A Clarion Call for Coalition for Nigeria Movement,’ had called for the dumping of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party, and called for the formation of a ‘third force’ to be known as CN.
- Source: The Punch, January 29, 2018
