{"id":115449,"date":"2025-06-29T07:13:43","date_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/?p=115449"},"modified":"2025-06-29T07:13:43","modified_gmt":"2025-06-29T11:13:43","slug":"jonathan-why-northern-muslims-opposed-me-after-yaradua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/africatodaynewsnewyork.com\/2025\/06\/29\/jonathan-why-northern-muslims-opposed-me-after-yaradua\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathan: Why Northern Muslims Opposed Me After Yar\u2019Adua"},"content":{"rendered":"

Goodluck Jonathan<\/a> has opened up about the intense political resistance he faced in 2010 when he was constitutionally due to take over as Nigeria\u2019s president after the death of Umaru Yar\u2019Adua.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking in a recent interview with the Rainbow Book Club, which drew widespread attention on Saturday, Jonathan recalled how influential northern Muslim power brokers tried to block his transition into the presidency, despite it being Nigeria\u2019s legal process.<\/p>\n

In his memoir My Transition Hours, Jonathan explores these turbulent moments in detail, reflecting on what he describes as a period of uncertainty and deep political tension.<\/p>\n

Yar\u2019Adua, who took office in 2007, died on May 5, 2010, after battling illness for months. As Vice President, Jonathan stepped up to complete the remainder of their tenure before seeking his own mandate in the 2011 election to lead Africa\u2019s most populous nation.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the interview, Jonathan revealed that the northern Muslims wanted Yar\u2019Adua to complete a two-term of eight years before power would return to the South. But the late president\u2019s health issues dealt them a big blow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always balancing between North and South, Muslims and Christians. Yar\u2019Adua, a northern Muslim, was the President, and he took over from a southern Christian, Obasanjo, who ruled for eight years.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, the northern Muslims wanted Yar\u2019Adua to at least do eight years before it could come back to the South for another, probably a Christian, to take over.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the health issue came up and it was the problem, and that was why even to allow me to act was an issue,\u201d Jonathan said.<\/p>\n

\n

Read also: Bello El-Rufai Recants Criticism Of Ex-President Jonathan<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He noted that possibly due to the northern Muslims\u2019 resistance, when Yar\u2019Adua was leaving for a medical check-up, his aide refused to submit the letter to the National Assembly that would have formally transferred power to him as the vice president.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Yar\u2019Adua was going for the medical checkup, actually a letter was written. Of course, the constitution says that for the vice president to act, the president will send a letter to the Senate and the House of Reps informing them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat letter was written. Well, the person whom the letter was handed over to was one of the aides of Yar\u2019Adua and he refused to submit the letter to the National Assembly,\u201d Jonathan said.<\/p>\n

The former president emphasised that the refusal to transfer power created a huge political vacuum, which eventually pushed the National Assembly to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity.<\/p>\n

\u201cYar\u2019Adua became so ill that he had no control of issues. So, we had the country where the president was not available and there was no acting president.<\/p>\n

Jonathan explained that they remained in that uncertain situation for a while, which eventually led to what became known as the Doctrine of Necessity.<\/p>\n

He said the National Assembly, recognising that the country was facing an unexpected constitutional crisis, invoked the Doctrine of Necessity and authorised him to serve as acting president even though there was no formal letter from Yar\u2019Adua transferring power to him.<\/p>\n

Africa Today News, New York\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Goodluck Jonathan has opened up about the intense political resistance he faced in 2010 when he was constitutionally due to take over as Nigeria\u2019s president after the death of Umaru Yar\u2019Adua. Speaking in a recent interview with the Rainbow Book Club, which drew widespread attention on Saturday, Jonathan recalled how influential northern Muslim power brokers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":115454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6928],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nJonathan: Why Northern Muslims Opposed Me After Yar\u2019Adua<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Goodluck Jonathan has opened up about the intense political resistance he faced in 2010 when he was constitutionally due\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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