Sani Abacha was found dead on a
chair with an inhaler for asthma on the floor, according Gidado Idris, who was
secretary to the government of the federation when the former head of state
died.
Idris died on Friday without
writing his memoirs, but a revealing interview he granted Weekly Trust on his
80th birthday in 2015 has continued to provide valuable information on his
distinguished civil service career.
Asked if he thought Abacha died a
natural death or was eliminated, Idris replied: “The General was found on a
chair with an inhaler for asthma on the floor. I never knew he was asthmatic
until that day. When I met him two days before he died, he seemed normal even
if he was coughing a bit. I knew he was ill, but I didn’t know what was wrong.
I wouldn’t say he was targeted.”
He also said Jeremiah Useni, who
was a lt. general, nominated himself to succeed Abacha because he was the
highest ranking officer “politically” but Abdulsalami Abubakar, also a lt.
general, was chosen despite opposition from a number of members of the
Provisional Ruling Council (PRC), the highest government organ at the time.
After Abacha’s death, Idris
presided over the council meeting that picked Abdulsalami as the new head of
state.
He narrated to Weekly Trust: “It
was the 8th of June, 1998, the day Sani Abacha died. Of course I didn’t know he
had died until I got to the house. At about 8:00 am, I got a phone call from
the Inspector-General of Police Ibrahim Coomassie and he told me that he wanted
me there with them urgently at the Villa. I took breakfast and drove myself
there at about 8:30 am. When I got to the gate, I was allowed to pass through
but on getting to the main building, I was barred even though they knew I was
the SGF.
“They told me that the meeting
wasn’t taking place there. I then argued that I was told by the IG that the
meeting was taking place inside the Villa but they insisted it was in the
office and directed me there. On reaching the office, I met Lieutenant-General
Abdulsalami Abubakar sitting and he asked why I was there and I told him I was
invited by the IGP. He then told me he was invited too, and that was why he was
waiting. Others came, as well.
“Then-Chief of Army Staff
Lieutenant-General Ishaya Bamaiyi came in and asked me to go up and see if the
head of state had come so that we could have the meeting. I did, but there
wasn’t anyone, not even the soldier who intermittently checked on us. I came
back and told them something strange is happening.
“Eventually, someone came and
apologized for keeping us waiting. We were led into the house by
Lieutenant-General Abubakar and taken to the sitting room where we usually sit
with General Abacha. We did not see him, though they said the meeting was with
him, instead we saw the first lady Maryam Abacha, Mohammed Abacha, Alhaji
Gwarzo (national security adviser) and Buba Marwa (military governor of Lagos
state). We sat down and then the shock came when Gwarzo said the reason why
they had invited us was because the head of state died that morning. He added
that Abacha’s body was upstairs and they were waiting for the Chief of Defence
Staff to go and identify it. Just like that, out of the blue, we were told he’d
died.”
He said he suspected something
was amiss when there was so much delay, even though initially no such thoughts
crossed his mind.
ABDULSALAMI’S ABORTED RETIREMENT
Idris recalled: “Every weekend,
either Saturday or Sunday, I usually meet with the head of state. You know his
death was announced on Monday. Now, the Thursday before the announcement, I was
home when the Chief of Defense Staff, General Abubakar, came and said he wanted
to say goodbye to me, that he was leaving for Minna. I asked him what was wrong
and he asked if I was not aware that he was going to be retired on Monday. I
thought he was joking. He added that the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of
Air Staff would all be retired on Monday, too.
“He then told me that rather than
being disgraced, he had packed up his things and he was leaving immediately so
that they could announce his retirement on Monday while he was home in Minna. I
then advised him not to behave that way, as a general. I told him that it was a
Thursday and we still had some days before Monday and that I was going to see
the Head of State on Saturday and find out what the problem was.
“I then pleaded with him with the
name of God to return to his home and after some time he obliged. So he did not
go to Minna. I tried to find out what being discussed in the house, but I
really didn’t get anything from anyone. I found it unusual and when I had a
meeting with General Abacha, I couldn’t extract any information.”
The former SGF, who schooled at
the University of Leeds, UK, and joined the civil service before Nigeria’s
independence in 1960, also gave details of the drama that went into appointing
Abacha’s successor.
“When we came down, we sat as we
didn’t know what to do and some of the workers asked what the next step should
be. I then said the next step is the announcement of his death. And we couldn’t
do that without telling Nigerians who would step into his position because this
was sort of new. And I said, I didn’t know how to go about it. I then said as
far as I know, we did not have a problem with who will step into his position,”
he said.
“Normally, we have a number 1, 2
and 3. In an instance where there is no number one, number two will step in. I
said that we have a situation because we did not have a number one as we had
just lost him and we did not have a number two as Diya was in jail but we have
a number three, which is General Abubakar.
He was very reluctant, and said ‘SGF, I do not agree with you’ and asked
if I could organize a meeting of the Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC) by 1:00
pm that same day. I said I would try.
“I got all the aircraft, all the
pilots and in any case the only people who would be coming from outside Abuja
were people from Lagos and Enugu. The ones from Kaduna normally preferred to
drive. And you know military men have their way of doing things, so by 1:00 pm
they were all there.
“Before then I had anticipated
everything that would happen and had already prepared the oath of office for
the new Head of State. I then summoned Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais and
explained to him what he needed to do with the oath of office, so he went and
dressed up for the task ahead.
“By 1:00 pm we were all there,
seated and I told Lieutenant-General Abubakar, who was also to preside over the
meeting, to go and welcome them, which he did. He then told them the situation
at hand and that the next step to take was to produce a new head of state and
that it had to be done immediately because the body of the late head of state
was still upstairs and had not been buried. So we started the meeting
immediately. Lieutenant-General Jeremiah T. Useni was there and he spoke first.
By the time we got halfway into the meeting at about 5:00 pm, only half of the
members of the council had spoken.”
HONOURING THE DEAD
Not everybody was sold on the
succession drama, though. One of the generals was actually unhappy that
Abacha’s body was still upstairs while all these discussions were going on.
Idris said: “Brigadier-General
Bashir S. Magashi questioned why the
body of the former head of state was being treated with disrespect. He was
furious that time was fast going and he hadn’t been buried yet. That got me
thinking and I felt that there must be some kind of conspiracy going on. I then
went to Lieutenant-General Ishaya Bamaiyi and asked to see him for a few
minutes and I asked him if it was possible for us to quickly fly to Kano and
bury him then come back and finish the meeting. He then asked if the body was
prepared for burial and I said I would check. I did and I was told from inside
the house that it was ready.
“I then arranged for two
aircraft, one to take his body and a few of us and the others to bring other
members of the AFRC. Military men being who they are, were very fast about it
and after ten minutes I was told that they were ready to receive us at the
airport. So I called Al-Mustapha and told him that we would go to Kano and bury
the head of state first and come back for the meeting.
“We reached Kano and quickly did
the burial and by 1:00 am we were back in Abuja. From the airport we went
straight to the council chamber to finish our meeting. We had earlier done more
than half of it, so it was easier finishing. The Chief of Army Staff, Bamaiyi,
was the last person to speak and he asked why we were wasting time and said by
tradition we have got two hierarchies, political and military. He said Useni
had already spoken and he said if we go by hierarchy, he was the highest
military officer today to take over from Abacha, but he quickly added that he
was prepared to abide by whatever decision the council ruled.
“He recommended that we appoint
Abubakar as the new head of state. As he was a Lieutenant-General, Useni also
recommended Abubakar’s promotion to a full general with immediate effect. He
immediately got up and saluted General Abubakar. All I did was to ask Justice
Uwais to administer the oath of office and allegiance to him. I took him to the
office, opened it, set the chair for him and he sat down and that was how he
assumed his status as head of state.
“Of course there was opposition
at the end. The most senior officers in the army then didn’t want Abdulsalami
to succeed Abacha. But with the persuasion of Bamaiyi, everyone came on board. Contrary to what many people feel and think
about Bamaiyi, he saved the day.”
PROPHECY FULFILLED
Idris, meanwhile, could have been
a prophet — and a successful one at that.
He recalled a particular
encounter in which he predicted, even if jokingly, that Abacha would rule
Nigeria someday.
He recounted: “I was lucky Sani
Abacha was my friend. We were very close since when he was a Major in Kaduna.
We played tennis together at the Kaduna Club, with General Buhari, late Shehu
Yar’adua and General T.Y Danjuma.
“We once shared a joke, which
oddly enough became reality: One day, at the Kaduna Club, after tennis, we were
talking and I said ‘Sani, the way I see you, you look like somebody who would
one day stage a coup and become head of state. I want you to remember me when
you eventually become head of state.’ We were just joking, but here we are
today.”
On October 17, 1995, Abacha
appointed Idris as SGF, a position he held till May 28, 1999 when Nigeria
returned to civil rule.
Idris, who served as private
secretary to Ahmadu Bello when he was premier of northern region, was permanent
secretary in Kaduna state from 1971 to 1975, secretary of the constitution
drafting committee in 1975, secretary of the constituent assembly that produced
the 1979 constitution and clerk of the national assembly in 1979.
He was at various times secretary
and director of administration of the National Institute of Policy and
Strategic Affairs in Kuru, permanent secretary, ministry of police affairs,
chairman of Productivity, Prices and Income board, permanent secretary ministry
of aviation and permanent secretary ministry of finance.
Idris, though originally from
Zaria, Kaduna state, was buried in Abuja on Saturday.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com