Jonathan: Yar’Adua’s aide withheld handover letter making me acting president
Taofeek Oyedokun
Goodluck Jonathan, former president of Nigeria.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that a key aide to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua deliberately withheld a crucial letter meant to empower him as acting president during Yar’Adua’s prolonged illness in 2010, a move that plunged Nigeria into a constitutional crisis.
In an interview with the Rainbow Book Club, which began trending on Saturday, Jonathan disclosed that before Yar’Adua left the country for medical treatment, he had written a formal letter to the National Assembly to transfer presidential powers. However, the aide entrusted with delivering the letter refused to submit it, creating a power vacuum at the highest level of government.
“One year that Yar’Adua was going for the medical checkup. Actually, a letter was written. Of course, the constitution says that for the vice president to act, the president would send a letter to the Senate and the House of Rep informing them,” Jonathan said.
“That letter was written, but the person who the letter was handed over to, I will not mention the name to you now, was one of the aides of Yar’Adua, refused to submit the letter to the National Assembly. And Yar’Adua became so ill that he had no control of issues.”
Jonathan explained that although he was able to carry out certain executive functions as vice president, including chairing Federal Executive Council meetings and approving ministerial memos, he could not constitutionally serve as commander-in-chief without the formal transfer of power.
“So we had a country where the president was not available, and there was no acting president,” he said. “Yes, as a vice president, you can take over the responsibilities of, some responsibilities of the president. You know the president of Nigeria has two main responsibilities.
“First, you are the chief executive of the country, so like a prime minister of a country. That, the vice president can assume, you don’t need any transfer. And I was doing that because we were having an executive council meeting, we were approving memos from ministers, so the government was going on.
“But there was no commander-in-chief. What is the second responsibility of the president of Nigeria, besides being the executive head of the country? And there’s nothing like acting commander-in-chief. Either you’re a commander-in-chief or not.
“But when you become an acting president, you are at the same time a commander-in-chief. So that was lacking, and no country allows that gap. A country like America, they don’t allow that gap at all.
“If an American president wants to, even if it’s a whitlow, that he requires an extension, that he will be off for five minutes, he will hand over to the vice president before that procedure. Immediately he regains consciousness, he takes over. But we stayed for some time.”
According to Jonathan, the impasse forced the National Assembly to invoke the “doctrine of necessity” a legal improvisation that allowed him to assume the powers of an acting president without an official communication from Yar’Adua.
“And that led to what they call the doctrine of necessity. When the National Assembly felt that the country was in a situation where it was not expected, they now have to initiate this doctrine of necessity. And they now made me to act as a president without a letter from Yar’Adua.”
Jonathan also contextualised the political tension of the time, noting that regional and religious dynamics influenced resistance to his emergence as acting president.
“There’s always a balancing between North and South, Muslims and Christians. And Yar’Adua was a Northern Muslim, serving as president. He took over from a Southern Christian, Obasanjo, who ruled for eight years.
“Definitely the Northern Muslims wanted Yar’Adua to at least do eight years before power would return to the South, likely to another Christian. But his health issues came up and it was a problem. That’s why even allowing me to act as president became an issue.”
BusinessDay NG