May Yar'Adua's soul RIP. This was a good man who tried to honestly address the plight of the ND people. I knew OBJ could not be the gracious one to give GEJ the opportunity.

President Goodluck Jonathan was not single-handedly handpicked as late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s running mate in 2007 by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, a former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party ,Dr. Ahmadu Ali said yesterday.


Ali , who spoke at a two-day retreat for elected PDP Governors and federal lawmakers , disclosed that late Yar’Adua picked Jonathan as his running mate without the input of any of the PDP leaders.
Ali while reacting to a comment made by the publisher of ThisDay newspapers, Nduka Obaigbena that the British High Commissioner told him that PDP short-listed former governors James Ibori, Peter Odili and Jonathan for the slot, said such an assertion was far from the truth.

He said the PDP’s leadership never drew up any list of possible running mates for Yar’Adua.

"It is not true that three people were in consideration for vice president and Ibori was never considered," Ali stressed.

According to the former PDP boss, while PDP governors were meeting in the house of former Special Assistant to Obasanjo, Andy Uba, deliberating on who to nominate for the post, Obasanjo, Chief Tony Anenih and himself (Ali) summoned Yar’Adua to read his acceptance speech and inform them who he is picking as his running mate.

He said: "Chief Tony Anenih, myself and Obasanjo were the only three people in the basement and we forced the late president to read his acceptance speech.

"He resisted and I am the only one keeping a copy of that speech which he never read. Goodluck Jonathan was nominated single-handedly by Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as his running mate before me, Chief Anenih and Obasanjo. We insisted he must tell us who is his running mate.

"At that time the governors were meeting, they were holed up in the house of one senator now trying to direct affairs, so we jumped them. While they were meeting in Andy Uba’s house where they were trying to come out with a candidate as the vice president we said, ‘no, Umaru tell us now, now, now’.

"That was when he said he would like Goodluck Jonathan. So, Obasanjo took the telephone and said get me Goodluck, get me Goodluck and Goodluck came and sat down. He (Jonathan) couldn’t get any idea from our eyes as he was seated opposite me and we were just watching him. We asked Yar’Adua to tell him (Jonathan) what he told us and he told him."

He added that when Jonathan was asked to respond, he (Jonathan)expressed his reservations about holding the office of Vice President when he already had a vision and agenda on how he would govern Bayelsa State.

"He said ‘well I do know what I was going to do in Bayelsa State, but I don’t know what I will do as vice president. I would have preferred to be governor of Bayelsa State."

Ali said when Jonathan voiced his reservations he (Ali) squeezed his face and Jonathan eventually agreed to serve as Yar’Adua’s vice president.

He said they conse-quently asked Yar’Adua to approach his governor colleagues and inform them of his choice.


He added: "Mean-while, television crew had already been summoned. Anenih was on this side, I was on the other side, Yar’Adua was sitting in the centre and he made the announcement that Jonathan is his running mate and that was how we torpedoed the governors meeting."

http://www.thenationonlineng.net/2011/index.php/news/8431-obasanjo-did-not-handpick-jonathan.html