Former President Goodluck Jonathan has claimed that an aide to the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua withheld a letter meant to transfer presidential powers in 2010, NaijNaira can report.
In an interview with the Rainbow Book Club, Jonathan said Yar’Adua had written to the National Assembly before leaving Nigeria for medical treatment.
“The 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,” he revealed.
Jonathan explained that this act left the country with no active president and no acting president for an extended period.
He said he was still able to perform some duties like leading cabinet meetings and approving memos, but couldn’t assume full authority.
“You can take over some responsibilities of the president as vice president,” he said. “But there was no commander-in-chief.”
Jonathan stressed that only formal transfer of power allows a vice president to serve as commander-in-chief.
He referenced how countries like the United States ensure no such power vacuum occurs, even temporarily.
The political deadlock eventually led lawmakers to invoke the “doctrine of necessity,” allowing him to act as president without Yar’Adua’s letter.
“When the National Assembly felt the country was stuck, they initiated this doctrine,” he said.
He also pointed to ethnic and religious politics as reasons some resisted his emergence as acting president.
“Northern Muslims wanted Yar’Adua to finish his term before power returned to the South,” he said.
Article updated 4 months ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
