It is common knowledge that the
late President Umaru Musa Ya’Adua did not pick former President Goodluck
Jonathan as his running mate in the 2007 presidential election.
However, it has now been revealed
that Yar’Adua’s preference was James Ibori, who was then completing his second
term as governor of Delta state.
This is contained in a new book,
‘On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan Won and Lost Nigeria’, written by Bolaji
Abdullahi — who served as a minister under Jonathan from 2011-2014.
The book will go on sale
nationwide from November 30, 2017 after the launch.
In the advance copy, the author
said after three governors from the south-south — where vice-presidency was
zoned to by the PDP — had been ruled out for one reason or the other during
deliberations, Yar’Adua asked Nuhu Ribadu, then-chairman of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), about Ibori.
This got President Olusegun
Obasanjo angry — and Yar’Adau quickly retreated.
A UK court would convict Ibori of
fraud in 2012, handing him a 13-year jail sentence.
He regained freedom in December
2016 after serving four and the half years and agreeing to be deported to
Nigeria.
Abdullahi wrote: “During
deliberations on the issue of zoning, the party leadership had also agreed that
the running mate to whoever emerged from the North, would come from the
South-South. This remained sacrosanct. The question was: who the running mate
should now be, with Odili out of the picture. One major concern was that the
eligible South-South governors were not only ambitious, they were all street
smart and could easily overwhelm the mild-mannered Yar’Adua.
“Victor Attah and Donald Duke
were ruled out on that account. However, even though it could be argued that
Odili was more ambitious than those two, he had also contributed the most to
the party. Now that his nomination had suffered a misadventure, the South-South
options were even more limited.
“As they agonised over their
limited options, Yar’Adua casually asked Ribadu in Hausa, ‘Shi mutumin Delta
din nan fa?’ (‘What about the Delta
person?’) He probably had forgotten that though not fluent in the language,
Obasanjo could follow simple conversations in Hausa. Before Ribadu could muster
a response, Obasanjo flared up again. Over his dead body would Ibori be Vice
President. Ribadu knew at the time that Ibori had an outstanding case with the
Metropolitan Police in London.
“When Ribadu dropped the
bombshell, Yar’Adua relented and said, almost apologetically, that he had not
been aware that Ibori had such a thing hanging over him; otherwise he would not
have brought up the Delta governor’s name.
In any case, those close to Ibori at the time said he had only been
interested in becoming the minister of petroleum resources. The search
continued.”
It was at this stage that
Jonathan’s name cropped up — and he initially rejected the slot.
“Goodluck Jonathan, the Governor
of Bayelsa State, who had succeeded his impeached boss only about a year before
never came up for discussion. Until now. Ribadu said all through the EFCC’s
investigation of Alamieyeseigha in Bayelsa, nothing was found on Jonathan,”
wrote the author.
“Moreover, he did not do anything
to obstruct the investigation or to encourage it, as many ambitious deputies
would have done. This indicated that Jonathan could be trusted with power. Even
more significantly, he was Ijaw. By making an Ijaw man vice president, Obasanjo
would have taken a major step in redressing the cry of marginalization by the
Niger Delta; and this would go a long way in restoring peace to the otherwise
troubled region. Obasanjo would not need any further persuading. It was shortly
afterwards that Odili was invited in and informed that he would not be
announced as running mate that morning.
“Yar’Adua eventually read his
acceptance speech, but was silent on the issue of running mate. For those
unaware of the intrigues that had played out all through the night, there was
nothing strange about this. The running mate did not have to be announced at
the convention venue. It was also not unusual for a candidate to ask for more
time to name his running mate. But by daybreak, the rumour mill had gone wild.
Names had started flying around as possible replacements for Odili.
“Meanwhile, Odili’s team had
busied itself through the night trying to prepare a response to some of the
weighty allegations against their boss. They were ready by 10:00 am on Sunday
morning, but by then the horse had already bolted from the stable.
“Without much fuss, Jonathan was
invited to the Presidential Villa and informed of the decision of President
Obasanjo and the party leaders to name him as the running mate to Yar’Adua. His
immediate reaction was that he didn’t want to be Vice President. Some said when
he first got wind of the decision earlier in the day, he had reacted the same
way, saying he was happy as the Governor of Bayelsa State, which in any case,
made more sense to him than this vice presidency business.
“However, with the combined force
of President Obasanjo, Tony Anenih and Yar’Adua mounting pressure on him, he
could not hold out for too long. By 4pm that Sunday, Goodluck Jonathan was
announced as the running mate to Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in the 2007 presidential
election.”
Abdullahi was fired as minister
of sport in March 2014 by Jonathan allegedly on account of his “godfather”,
Bukola Saraki, who had joined other party rebels in defecting to the APC.
He is currently the national
publicity secretary of the APC.
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