The president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria People’s Party met for four hours in Paris, France, on Monday, TheCable reported.
The meeting which started at 12:30pm and ended at 4:45pm centered on the potential involvement of Kwankwaso in Tinubu’s administration as well as the issues around the election of the legislative leaders ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th national assembly, according to the report.
Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house of reps and presumptive chief of staff to the president-elect, attended the meeting while Abdulmumin Jibrin, an NNPP rep-elect and former leader of a Tinubu campaign organisation, accompanied Kwankwaso.
Oluremi Tinubu, senator and wife of president-elect received Kwankwaso’s wife, Salamatu.
During the meeting, Kwankwaso agreed in principle to join Tinubu’s government subject to consultations with the stakeholders on both sides, the reported said.
The former Lagos governor promised to broker peace between Abdullahi Ganduje, outgoing governor of Kano state, and Kwankwaso. Ganduje was deputy to Kwankwaso when he was governor of Kano from 2011 to 2015.
Tinubu is expected to brief Kashim Shettima, the vice-president elect, APC governors forum and other party leaders while Kwankwaso will do same with his party leadership,
Meetings between Tinubu’s representatives and influential PDP members have also taken place.
The two top positions in both chambers have been zoned by the All Progressives Congress (APC), but some of its members are rebelling against the plan and threatening to form an alliance with the opposition to scuttle the agreement.
APC has 59 senators and 175 representatives while NNPP has two senators and 19 representatives.
To choose the top two leaders in each chamber, a simple majority of 56 senators and 181 representatives is required.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
