What Yar’adua told me when I begged him not to fight Obasanjo- Sule Lamido

Former Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido, disclosed in his autobiography “Being True to Myself” the incident that ignited a rift between the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

What Yar’adua told me when I begged him not to fight Obasanjo- Sule LamidoAccording to In a section titled “My Relationship with Yar’adua” under the chapter dedicated to Yar’adua’s presidency, Lamido explained that tensions arose after Yar’adua presented a memo on the 2007 presidential election to the National Council of State.

According to Daily Trust, Lamido described both Yar’adua and Obasanjo as stubborn individuals, though in different ways. He recounted that the 2007 election, widely regarded as one of the most flawed in Nigeria’s history, became a source of friction. The official results of the election remain unpublished even 18 years later. Interestingly, Yar’adua himself acknowledged the shortcomings of the poll and had begun electoral reforms before his death on May 5, 2010.

Lamido revealed that he later had a meeting with Yar’adua, during which he passionately urged the president not to engage in conflict with Obasanjo. According to Lamido, when he was ushered into the president’s office and offered the usual courtesies, Yar’adua asked what was troubling him.

Overcome with emotion, Lamido pleaded with him not to fight Obasanjo. He reminded the president of the support Obasanjo had given him in his time of need and emphasized that it was against their religion and culture to show ingratitude to someone who had played such a pivotal role in his rise to power.

Moved by Lamido’s emotional appeal, Yar’adua reportedly asked him to calm down and take a seat. He then picked up his intercom and summoned his Aide-de-Camp, Lt. Col. Mustapha.

He said, “When the ADC entered, the president asked him point blank, ‘ADC, what were my instructions to you with respect to Obasanjo?’ The ADC replied, ‘Sir, you asked me to accede to any demand he might make on any issue, either within or outside Nigeria, including his travels, without recourse to you.’”

Further talking, he said, “President Yar’adua then turned to me and said, ‘Sule, are you comforted now?’ I said, ‘Yes, Sir,’ and bade him farewell. I left Abuja and returned to Dutse, my state capital. My relationship with Yar’adua, from then on, was neither cosy nor uneasy, but strictly formal.”