How Yar’Adua's aide hid official letter transferring power to me - Jonathan opens up

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has revealed that late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua signed a letter authorising him to act in his absence during his prolonged illness. Still, the letter was never delivered to the National Assembly.

Speaking in an interview with the Rainbow Book Club about his memoir, My Transition Hours, Jonathan described the period as one of the darkest and most turbulent in Nigeria’s democratic journey, marred by ethnic and religious tensions, political power plays, and a looming constitutional crisis.

“At that time, there was already an understanding that power would stay in the North for eight years before rotating again,” Jonathan recalled. “But the health issue came up, and that became the problem. Even allowing me to act became an issue.”

Jonathan, who was vice president at the time, said that although Yar’Adua had prepared a formal handover letter, someone, whom he declined to reveal his identity, withheld it from the National Assembly, leaving him stuck in a constitutional limbo.

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“That letter was written. But the person who the letter was handed over to, I will not mention the name, refused to submit it,” he said. “Yar’Adua became so ill that he had no control of issues.”

With no official transfer of power, Jonathan could carry out executive duties but not assume the role of commander-in-chief.

“The Nigerian president has two main roles, as chief executive and as commander-in-chief. You can’t be an acting commander-in-chief. You either are, or you’re not,” he explained.

As the vacuum deepened and tension escalated across the country, the National Assembly invoked the doctrine of necessity. This constitutional workaround allowed Jonathan to become acting president and prevent further instability.

“The country was tense. I was hearing rumours of coups every day,” he said. “The north-south divide, Christian-Muslim tensions, everything was heating up.”

Jonathan also revealed that during this chaotic period, close allies urged him to leave the presidential villa for his safety, which he firmly rejected.

“They said I shouldn’t sleep in the villa. But I told them, if anyone wants to kill me, let them do it in the state house so Nigerians will know I didn’t run. If I die in someone’s guest house, they’ll say Indian girls brought apple to kill me,” he said, referencing a past political scandal. “To me, I wasn’t bothered. I was very calm. But that was the scenario,” he added.

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Jonathan would go on to assume full presidential powers following Yar’Adua’s eventual passing in May 2010.