The emergence of the meeting, it was gathered, arose, following, complaints by Jonathan that the President was not sticking to the peace accord they signed at the 2015 Elections Peace Committee.
Jonathan also sought for understanding on alleged corrupt practices and mismanagement of funds under his administration. A source said Jonathan claimed that he was hearing about some of the graft allegations for the first time But Buhari was said to have insisted that all looted funds must be returned to the nation’s coffers.
According to a source who pleaded anonymity because of the ‘sensitivity’ of the matter, Buhari also restated his pledge that Jonathan had nothing to fear at all. But he said there was no going back on the recovery of looted funds.
The source said: “The President reassured Jonathan that he has no personal agenda against him. But he insisted that whatever was stolen from the treasury must be returned.”
The outcome of the session was said to have informed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s declaration at the weekend that the Buhari administration’s anti-corruption battle was not targeted at Jonathan.
A source, however, confirmed that the parley meeting was arranged by Abdulsalami. Jonathan was uncomfortable that Buhari had moved against his ex-Chief Security Officer (CSO), ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) and some ministers. The source said Jonathan asked the Abdulsalami Committee to prevail on Buhari not to ‘rubbish’ him.
“For some weeks, Jonathan has been in the country to iron out some issues on his government,” the source said.
“Based on Jonathan’s complaint, Abdulsalami made efforts – five times – to get in touch with Buhari but the ex-Head of State could not get through on time. I think Buhari already had security reports on Jonathan’s emissary.”