Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who flew the flag of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the February 25 presidential election, met for four hours in Paris, France, on Monday.
At the centre of the discussion, our reporter understands, was the potential involvement of Kwankwaso in the in-coming administration as Tinubu plans to form a “government of national unity” — which means giving certain positions to opposition parties.
The meeting also discussed issues around the election of the legislative leaders ahead of the June 13 inauguration of the 10th National Assembly.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has zoned the two top positions in both chambers but some of its members are kicking against the formula and threatening to go in alliance with the opposition to torpedo the arrangement
While APC has 59 senators and 175 members of the houses of reps, NNPP has two and 19 respectively.
A simple majority of 56 senators and 181 reps are needed to elect the top two leaders in the both houses respectively.
Tinubu’s representatives have also been meeting with key figures in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), our correspondent confirmed.
The Paris meeting between Tinubu and Kwankwaso started at 12.30pm and ended at 4.45pm, insiders revealed.
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.
Our reporter learnt that Tinubu and Kwankwaso reminisced on their relationship dating back to the National Assembly in 1992.