Tinubu holds Secret Meeting with Jandor in Aso Rock after dumping PDP

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has held a secret meeting with ex-governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

According to TheCable, the meeting, which was not made public, took place between 2pm and 4pm on Monday.

This comes days after Jandor announced his resignation from the PDP in Lagos, iting “indiscipline and anti-party activities” — but he did not announce his next move.

He was a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) before defecting to the PDP to run for governorship in the last general election.

The 47-year-old politician accused PDP national leadership of letting him down on the eve of the election, maintaining that he would have won but for a false claim of alliance that made PDP supporters in Lagos vote for another candidate.

Jide Sanwo-Olu, the incumbent and candidate of the APC, scored 762,134 votes, while Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party polled 312,329 and Jandor had 62,449.

In his resignation letter, Jandor said: “I am here before you today without a heavy heart and a clear conscience. We have dedicated ourselves to the ideals of democracy — both good governance and the pursuit of a better Lagos,” he said.

“However, it has become evident that the leadership of the PDP, both at the national and state levels, has failed to uphold its principles.

“We will consult widely with everybody and then take the decision to collapse our structure to another platform. The major thing now is that we have left the PDP.”

The details of Jandor’s meeting with Tinubu are not yet public, but Aso Rock sources it was a fence-mending move.

It may signal the beginning of re-alignment ahead of the 2027 general election.

Jandor had earlier visited Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar, former heads of state, in Minna, Niger state.

He also met with Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president and senior officials of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

Meanwhile, speaking earlier on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, Jandor said doesn’t have to consult with President Bola Tinubu, to become the governor of Lagos but will join would consider joining any of the available parties to realise his dream.

“APC is one of the 17 (parties) that is left. A coalition is coming in Nigeria. Other political parties are there. Labour Party is also an option, it is part of the 17,” he said.

On his 2027 governorship ambition, he said, “We have chosen this path; we are not deviating. It is only God that can determine who and when. This is the path that we have chosen.”

Jandor said he has not met with Tinubu since he left the APC in 2022.

When asked whether he has consulted Tinubu and other APC leaders in Lagos to anoint him for the top Lagos seat, Jandor said, “No, we are not in the same party. I don’t have to consult with them”.