Previously kept secret on how former President Goodluck Jonathan asserted his authority and took the reins of power in February 2010, based on advice by former miliary President, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, have surfaced, courtesy of billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola.
Otedola on Sunday, while congratulating Babangida on his 80th birthday, thanked him for his role in unknotting the political vacuum that existed when late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua was sick in 2010, and was away abroad without officially transmitting power to his then deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
Giving snippets from his upcoming book, Otedola disclosed that General Babangida sent him to Jonathan to sit on the empty seat of the then late at the next Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
His words: “Worried by the tension and uncertainty, I decided to do something on my own,” he wrote.
“In the first week of February 2010, I went to Minna, Niger State, along with Hajia Bola Shagaya, to commiserate with General Ibrahim Babangida over the death of his wife, Maryam.
“At his Hilltop residence, we spoke on a wide range of issues, but I told him I needed to discuss an urgent and vital issue. He took me to his study, where the two of us were alone. I told him that the state of the nation had been agitating my mind.”
On what could be done to solve the political logjam, he quoted IBB as saying: ‘Femi, advise your friend that when he gets to the Council Chambers next week for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, he should go and sit on the President’s chair.”
The billionaire adds, “I found that fascinating and assured him I would pass the message across,”
“I travelled back to Abuja by road in the evening and went straight to have dinner with Dr Jonathan. I did not waste time in delivering General Babangida’s message to him.
“He nodded and asked me, ‘What do you think?’
“I laughed and said, ‘Be a man, Your Excellency. Go and sit on that chair!’
“He looked at me for some time and responded that he would think about it.
“A week later, on Tuesday, February 9, the National Assembly adopted the famous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to make Dr Jonathan the Acting President pending the return of President Yar’Adua from his medical leave. Behind-the-scene moves by prominent Nigerians preceded this decision. The legislative resolution was unprecedented, but the nation had been tensed up. The fault lines were so stoked that an unusual solution was needed to address the unique situation.
“With Jonathan now legally empowered to act as President, there remained the critical optics: would he stand-in for the President confidently and authoritatively? Or would he try to maintain a subdued outlook? The following day was the FEC meeting. As Dr Jonathan entered the council chamber, he was made to sit on the chair of the Vice president—his usual seat.
“As the protocol officer pulled out the VP’s chair, Dr Jonathan marched towards the seat reserved for the President. And he sat on it! That was the moment Dr Goodluck Jonathan took control of power. By that act, he sent a strong signal to all Nigerians that he was now in charge. The same day, Jonathan even reshuffled the cabinet.”