A whistle blower, WikiLeaks, has revealed that late President Umaru Yar’Adua was considering prosecuting his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, on corruption related issues, while he was assiduously working to strip his government out of Obasanjo’s influence.
The WikiLeaks cables, which United States Embassy in Nigeria wired to Washington, further claimed that the late president rejected $60m bribe from Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The cables added that prominent elite of Northern Nigeria were scared of Yar’Adua’s presidency on account of his ill health, a situation which they feared might skip the North of presidency after eight years of Obasanjo’s reign.
The US diplomats , according to the cables , got the political situation from Alhaji Sule Maitama, under a highly warning advice to protect his identity. The elder statesman, the US Embassy claimed, was confidante of the late Yar’Adua, saying that, “former Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations (1979-1983) and confidant of President Umaru Yar’Adua, averred that the northern political elite is increasingly apprehensive about Yar’Adua’s health and his capacity to continue to govern, and is fearful the North may lose the presidency to the South if Yar’Adua dies, although we note that there are other factors at play on this issue besides Yar’Adua’s health, particularly if the Supreme Court calls for a new election.
“Yar’Adua told him that he may use this information, perhaps one day in the near future, to indict Obasanjo for corruption. The problem however, according to Sule Maitama, rested in the fact that Yar’Adua recognised that if he were to pursue Obasanjo, he may unwittingly subject his wife and close advisers to greater scrutiny, and risk his own political survival.”
The cables also quoted a former chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), an apex socio-cultural organisation of the North, describing Yar’Adua’s style of governance as ‘disaster’.
The cables read in part, “ Maitama Sule (strictly protect), former Nigerian ambassador to the United Nations (1979-1983) and confidant of Yar’Adua, averred that the northern political elite is increasingly apprehensive about Yar’ Adua’s health and his capacity to continue to govern, and is fearful the North may lose the presidency to the South if Yar’Adua dies, although we note that there are other factors at play on this issue besides Yar’Adua’s health, particularly if the Supreme Court calls for a new election.
“While Sule believes that President’s performance during his first year in office has suffered due to his ailing health, he assessed Yar’Adua has succeeded in disentangling and distancing himself from former President Obasanjo.Sule informed that Yar’Adua wants to further reduce Obasanjo’s influence both within the Villa and the National Assembly. Consequently, Sule remarked, Yar’Adua intends to replace current Chief of Staff, and Obasanjo-loyalist, Abdullahi Mohammed.
(Nigerian press reported May 30 that Mohammed has resigned, and will officially vacate office June 2.) Sule confided that some influential northerners are currently pressuring former National Security Adviser, Aliyu Muhammad Gusau, to consider taking over as Chief of Staff. Also, Sule alleged that Obasanjo is working to bribe the Supreme Court to overturn President Yar’Adua’s April 2007 election. While claiming that First Lady Turai Yar’Adua is heavily involved in corrupt activities, Sule insisted that President Yar’Adua is committed to remaining personally untainted by corruption.”
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