Why we brought Buhari into politics — Buba Galadima

Buba Galadima, a chieftain of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), revealed that a northern group brought Muhammadu Buhari into politics to counter the Oduduwa Peoples Congress (OPC) activities.

Buba Galadima disclosed this on Tuesday while fielding questions on Arise Television’s Morning Show programme.

The OPC, TRIBUNE ONLINE gathered, had invaded Ilorin in 1999 and 2000, aiming to dismantle Fulani structures, which the northern group saw as excessive.

With former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu perceived as inactive, Galadima and 33 others met in Kaduna to strategise.

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Buba Galadima said the northern group decided to support Buhari, a retired military officer, to join politics and address the OPC menace.

Galadima explained that Buhari wasn’t initially interested in politics, having criticized politicians as insincere.

However, after persuasion from the group, Buhari agreed to participate.

Following his entry into politics, the OPC’s activities were curbed, and Obasanjo’s government took steps to checkmate the group.

“Some of us who recruited Buhari had a mission. And I will reveal that mission today.

“General Buhari came into politics. It was not his province. He never liked the politicians because he believed we are fake and that we did not mean what we say.

“But there was an incident that made some of us recruit him, convince him, and use other people to convince him to join politics, even though we had our own agenda.

“In 1999 and 2000, the OPC was on a rampage in some parts of the country, especially the South West, and had inconvenienced a lot of people from this part of the country to the extent that they mobilised over 500 vehicles to come and invade Ilorin with the sole aim of uprooting what they called Fulani structures in Ilorin.

“We felt that was too much, and President Obasanjo was doing nothing. President Bola Tinubu, then Governor of Lagos, was doing nothing. And some of us felt that those groups of people were being encouraged by their leaders in positions of authority. So, how do we stop that?

“I called a meeting in Kaduna, about 34 of us, and we sat down to reason. How do we save our people from this OPC menace?

“I suggested that we have to, because you remove government through only two ways. The barrel of the gun and through the ballot box. And they said it was impossible to challenge General Obasanjo. That was how Buhari came to our mind.

“And when he was approached, he had very unkind words for politicians. But since he did not say he was not doing it, we still persuaded him.

“To cut a long story short, we achieved our first purpose of putting a brake on what the OPC was doing. Immediately Buhari joined partisan politics, we had a very big outing to initiate him into politics. The Obasanjo government became restive and was shaken to its bone marrow. Obasanjo had to really checkmate the OPC.

“So, for that reason, we achieved our first purpose of bringing General Buhari into partisan politics. The remaining now is history,” he stated.