They met on Monday night in Abuja with Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Congress for Progressive Change); Mallam Nuhu Ribadu (Action Congress of Nigeria); and Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau (All Nigeria Peoples Party).
The new coalition of Northern stakeholders is different from the Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF), which is at the vanguard of the retention of the presidency by the North.
The Northern stakeholders, including a retired President of the Court of Appeal, met with the trio late into the night at a private residence in Abuja .
Members of the new group are professionals, youth leaders and members, civil society groups and some members of the Council of Ulamas.
It was learnt that 95 per cent of members of the new group are not politicians.
The Monday night session is considered to be the “North’s final assault” against Jonathan, should the three candidates succumb to pressure from the stakeholders.
The session made four demands from the candidates. They are:
•to save Nigeria from further drift and mismanagement by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP);
•not to allow presidency to slip away from the North in 2011;
•to form an alliance against the PDP to realise power shift to the North; and
•to sink their differences and allow for an alliance in favour of one of them.
A source at the session, who spoke in confidence, said: “All groups in the North and respected Northerners you can think of were at the meeting.
“The meeting was initially scheduled for Sunday but it was shifted to Monday night and it did not close till about 1am.
“Those at the meeting told the candidates that the stakes are very high and the dangers of allowing power to slip away from the region are daunting.
“They also raised issues why it has been difficult for the three candidates to form an alliance against the PDP when the North has every chance to win the presidential poll.
“They appealed to the candidates to sink their differences and agree to queue behind one of them during the presidential poll.”
None of the three candidates made any commitment at the session, it was learnt.
Another source said: “They promised to consult their parties accordingly on the new alliance proposal.”
The stakeholders are likely to meet again before the week end to take a decision because Northerners would have to be mobilised alongside the new focus”.
Responding to a question, the source said: “The session succeeded in bringing the candidates together - for the first time. This is a sign that something positive can come up.
“At all its meetings, the Northern Political Leaders Forum could not bring these candidates together.”
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