Former President Goodluck Jonathan has disclosed for the first time how powerful northern Muslim groups opposed the transfer of power to him following the death of his late principal, ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua, in 2010.
In an interview with the Rainbow Book Club, Jonathan, reflecting on the political history in his memoir My Transition Hours, explained that northern Muslims wanted Yar’Adua to complete a two-term of eight years before power would return to the South.
“There’s always balancing between North and South, Muslims and Christians,” Jonathan said, adding that since Yar’Adua, a northern Muslim, took over from a southern Christian, Olusegun Obasanjo, it was expected that Yar’Adua would complete his full term.
“But the health issue came up and it was the problem, and that was why even to allow me to act was an issue,” he stated.
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According to Jonathan, this resistance was likely why a presidential aide refused to submit the letter that would have formally transferred power to him when Yar’Adua left for a medical check-up.
“That letter was written… Well, the person whom the letter was handed over to was one of the aides of Yar’Adua and he refused to submit the letter to the National Assembly,” he revealed.
The former president emphasized that the refusal to transfer power created a dangerous political vacuum, which eventually led the National Assembly to invoke the “Doctrine of Necessity.”
He recalled, “Yar’Adua became so ill that he had no control of issues. So, we had the country where the president was not available and there was no acting president.”
The country was tense, with “growing fears of a military coup.” Jonathan even revealed that a close ally advised him to flee the State House for his safety.
He rejected the advice, saying, “I would stay in the State House. If somebody wanted to kill me, it’s better you kill me in the State House, so Nigerians would know that they assassinated me in the State House.”
He added humorously, “If I decided to go and stay in their guest house, security people would know, and if people go and kill me there, they would say, Indian girls brought apples to kill me… I don’t even want those kinds of stories.”
Jonathan noted that while he could perform some duties as Vice President, he couldn’t act as Commander-in-Chief without the formal transfer of power, creating a crucial power vacuum.
He was eventually made Acting President in February 2010 and later became President after Yar’Adua’s death in May of the same year.
