AS president in 2011, Goodluck Jonathan did all he could to ensure South West grabbed the country’s number four seat, including lobbying then opposition leaders from the zone, to no avail. The North West eventually grabbed the seat, supported by South West leaders in opposition to then ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). 

Former Governor of Osun State and now statesman, Chief Bisi Akande, made this revelation in his autobiography, “My Participations” which is currently dominating political and national dis- course. 

Aminu Tambuwal, now Sokoto State governor, won the seat, against the preferred pick of his party, Mrs Mulikat Adeola Akande, from the South-West. Defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, then a fledging opposition, which had Akande and his soulmate, former Lagos State governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, as front- line leaders, openly asked its elected members of the House of Representatives, mostly from the South-West, to work against their region and back Tambuwal from North-West. 

The opposition party’s support carried Tambuwal through the contest against Akande, then ruling party’s favourite for the speakership seat.

In his book, Chief Akande revealed that former president then as incumbent, personally reached out to Tinubu, who is now believed to be nursing presidential aspiration in 2023 and himself, but couldn’t convince them. 

He wrote, “President Jonathan, immediately after the meeting (with political parties), called Bola Tinubu aside into a lobby to broach the matter of ACN support for a choice of who would become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

“That same day, President Jonathan talked to me on phone about the same matter. He disclosed that PDP had zoned the position to the South-West but that only one Muraina and another Mulika won elections on PDP ticket from the zone into the House of Representatives. 

“I quickly reminded him that, as at (sic) that date in the United States of America, while the Democrats produced the Senate President, the Republicans (the opposition) produced the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I boasted that ACN was capable of suggesting to him ten names of members from the South West from among whom to choose if PDP would be magnanimous enough to practice democracy the way it was being practised in the USA, from where we imported our presidential system. 

“He seemed pissed off and stopped the conversation,” he said.

In the era being referenced by the former national chairman of the defunct opposition party, the controlling party in each of the chambers of the Congress in the United States was in the majority, which wasn’t the case with ACN when the Ila-born politician was making his claim.

He also revealed in the book that their political platforms had their sight on working against the then ruling party. 

“In the aftermath of the 2011 elections, many of our people were dissatisfied. Under the PDP, our country has become thoroughly decadent. Those of us who saw the then ruling party as an extension of the military corrupt politics preferred to work with all the major opposition parties which would eventually lead to a merger if we were to uproot the entrenched PDP and its evil tendencies. The first party that came to mind was the CPC which like us, was resolutely opposed to the PDP. 

“Immediately after the elections, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila led a team of ACN boys to Bola Tinubu and me to suggest support for Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, a PDP member from Sokoto, to become the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

In the meantime, President Goodluck Jonathan was pressing for a government of national unity, with a bid of sucking ACN into manipulative extinction.” 

Another major revelation from the book is the involvement of a former National Security Adviser and a Sokoto prince, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd) in the presidential project of now President Muhammadu Buhari preparatory to the 2011 presidential election against then incumbent Jonathan. 

Jonathan defeated Buhari in the contest, before Buhari triumphed in their replay in 2015. 

Interestingly, Dasuki would go on to become Jonathan’s most senior security adviser, but also ended up spending 1,484 days in detention, while being prosecuted by the Buhari administration, for alleged corruption while serving in the Jonathan administration. 

He was eventually released on December 24, 2019, after many court orders for his released had been spurned by the administration. He was accused of siphoning fund meant for arms to fight insurgency in the North-East. 

The author, however, paid the embattled former security chief compliments for his role in facilitating a merger between ACN and CPC in the build-up to the 2011 poll, to defeat Jonathan. 

He said, “The reaction of CPC to this letter (to CPC from ACN and published on the same page), began the failed negotiation between ACN and CPC which attracted further intervention by some national leaders like General Babangida, Atiku Abubakar and others. 

“This eventually crashed at the threshold of the 2011 presidential elections which President Jonathan of the PDP won again. 

“The efforts of the former National Security Adviser– Colonel Sambo Dasuki is worth mentioning in this political bridge-building attempt between ACN and CPC. Dasuki was then in support of Buhari becoming the presidential candidate of the alliance. 

“Sambo Dasuki was coming around, begging us, to support Buhari’s presidential aspiration. Nuhu Ribadu, whom we had earlier chosen as our presidential candidate in the ACN, said he was ready to step down for Buhari. He said when he accepted to run, he did not know that Buhari was also interested in running.”

PaChukwudi44:
Later Yorubas came to claim GEJ marginalised them.Imagine a whole region giving up the number 4 position to massage the ego of a kleptomaniac godfather

OZAOEKPE:
Jonathan mess up gan he no wise to see all these sabotage for him government

EraseTheDot:

Stop grandstanding. Can't you read. Why was Jonathan reaching out to Tinubu & Pa Akanda for a candidate in PDP when he could have asked them for a candidate in ACN. They very well saw through his manipulation.

In the meantime, President Goodluck Jonathan was pressing for a government of national unity, with a bid of sucking ACN into manipulative extinction.”



-erase the dot

Rugaria:

Jonathan is Aguiyi Ironsi pro max..
He doesn't understand primitive politics and he will never do even after Buhari has schooled all of them..
The stunning part of it is that even if you make him president again, he will do same things! He has learnt nothing. He was built to be dense like that. Imagine making Dasuki your security advisor..

Maxymilliano:
Hearing this from an octogenarian, very shameful. If Mulikat were to be his daughter, this is how he would have thrown her under the bus for a northerner.

Agbaya adagbamadanu

poiZon:

And he laughed lastly cos that same dasuki was jailed by the person he fought just to make him the president.

Jonathan don sleep cell before?

Rugaria:

That's if you believe that Dasuki was actually jailed..
But what do you know?
Few days ago, you were told by Bode Gorge that the former PDP Chairman under Jonathan, who was also a former governor of Bauchi state, Muazu, ran away from the country few days to the elections! That's the party chairman, running away from an election he was leading! You think that was a coincidence? Naive you..

mrvitalis:
So you didn't want to support a PDP member from south west but ended up supporting a PDP member from north West

This are people we call leaders

Rugaria:

That's if you believe that Dasuki was actually jailed..
But what do you know?
Few days ago, you were told by Bode Gorge that the former PDP Chairman under Jonathan, who was also a former governor of Bauchi state, Muazu, ran away from the country few days to the elections! That's the party chairman, running away from an election he was leading! You think that was a coincidence? Naive you..

poiZon:

Pdp was the majority, let that sink into ur empty skull.

2015 senate presidency was supposed to be zoned to south east, they wasn't any senator from south east that was a 2timer. Why didnt apc considered pdp senators?

In USA no minority has ever been the speaker.
Nancy pelosi became speaker under republican because they were the majority in the house. She even did trump shege cos the house impeached trump,

Rugaria:
I hope this finally puts to rest the wicked false notion being spread by afonjas that Jonathan intentionally marginalized them during his administration. You guys voted to be slaves as usual to your Fulani lords and we can see how it all worked out for Nigeria today. I blame Jonathan for being stupidly soft. He should have made you guys pay heavily for that..

Presently, I also think that most of the political jostling going on in the south west today is not for them to take over from Buhari. No! They don't have the confidence nor ambition to make such categorical demands! I think the south west is basically trying to reach agreements with the north for bigger crumbs from the fulani table!

Fact of the matter is that politically and economically, the yorubas have consciously and willingly surrendered to their fulani lords. This is pure fear and cowardice. Forget all the exotic talks about "alliances" and all that. They're mortified at the sight of the fulani... And most dangerously, the Fulani actively treats them like slaves.. it's unbelievable..

kettykings:
It seems the only way to contain this people is to create a second commercial city where key national economic activities will take place. Any day these folks abuse their privileged status and use strike to grind economic activities in Lagos then commercial activities Will continue elsewhere and Nigeria moves on . They used Lagos to stop the first attempt to remove fuel subsidy z used Lagos to vote in someone who eventhough is an officer and a gentleman but is not positioned to solve the problems troubling Nigeria. Now they are positioning to push in an unqualified, inadequately trained old fellow for the most important job in Nigeria.

JAMO84:
That was when Jonathan decided to thrash the South West. Unfortunately for him, we were not going to judge him by appointments, unlike some people, we judged him by lack of developmental projects in our region.

EraseTheDot:

Stop grandstanding. Can't you read. Why was Jonathan reaching out to Tinubu & Pa Akanda for a candidate in PDP when he could have asked them for a candidate in ACN. They very well saw through his manipulation.

In the meantime, President Goodluck Jonathan was pressing for a government of national unity, with a bid of sucking ACN into manipulative extinction.”



-erase the dot

chrisxxx:

Afonja I know your cone head will never allow you reason straight. There was someone with PDP ticket from the South West why should they give to someone else? Would you accept that? Presently in the east some of the governors are defecting because they believe APC would prefer their own.

EraseTheDot:

If your thinking is not low, how can Jonathan ask ACN to support an opposition against their own party member. Since the the position was zoned to SW, he could have allowed SW caucus to determine the party to represent them.


-erase the dot