{"id":88,"date":"2018-02-26T13:22:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-26T13:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/?p=88"},"modified":"2018-03-25T12:26:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T12:26:52","slug":"jonathan-never-wanted-to-be-yaraduas-running-mate-former-pdp-chairman-ahmadu-ali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/?p=88","title":{"rendered":"”Jonathan never wanted to be Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s running mate” – Former PDP chairman, Ahmadu Ali"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Former National Chairman of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ahmadu Ali, has given an insider\u2019s details of how former president Goodluck Jonathan became the presidential running mate to the late Umaru Musa Yar\u2019Adua, at the party\u2019s convention on December 16, 2006.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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In a yet to be released autobiography titled, \u2018The many Colours of a Rainbow: A biography of Senator Ahmadu Adah Ali\u2019 and written by Gideon S. Tseja, Ali, a retired Army Colonel and a senator, who was PDP chairman from 2005 to 2007, said himself, President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Tony Anenih decided on Jonathan to checkmate the PDP governors, who were scheming to nominate another person for Yar\u2019Adua, after they had rejected the choice of the then Rivers State Governor, Dr Peter Odili. Ali said Yar’Adua was the only one who they could present among the governors to run for president as he was the only one without any allegations of corruption.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cAmongst all the PDP governors who wanted to contest for president, he (Yar\u2019Adua) was the only one on whom the EFCC could not find any evidence of corruption or misappropriation of funds. He left over N6 billion for his successor in the state coffers while other governors left virtually nothing. He was reluctant to contest for president.

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Even before the final results of the primaries were tallied, it was clear to the party leaders that Yar\u2019Adua was going to win hands down. They \u2013 President Obasanjo, Chairman, BOT, Chief Anenih and the National Chairman, Dr Ahmadu Ali \u2013 decided to shift their attention to the nomination of a running mate on the PDP ticket, the man who would be vice president if Yar\u2019Adua won the presidency.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongratulations\u201d, the chairman began unceremoniously. \u201cIt is a well-deserved victory, and the party will give you all the support you need to win the presidential election.\u201d He (Ali) paused for a moment as the president and the others also gave Yar\u2019Adua their congratulations. \u201cPeter Odili will be your running mate. He came third in our search for a presidential candidate. Governor Ahmed Makarfi came second in our score. For equity, the running mate had to come from the south<\/span>.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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There was silence as everybody waited for Yar\u2019Adua to react. Finally, looking away and avoiding the eyes of the chairman, he mumbled with his characteristic shy demeanour, \u201cThank you sir, but I would request\u2026<\/span>\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cYou request what? The party produced you and the party will also produce the VP!<\/span>\u201d thundered the chairman.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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\u201cLet us try to give him time\u201d, <\/span>Obasanjo tried to intervene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have time sir. We need to move fast. You can never tell what mischief is being planned right now. Did you see any of the governors towards the end of the election at the Square?\u201d It was true that the governors had mysteriously disappeared when Yar\u2019Adua\u2019s victory became a certainty. He (Ali) turned to Yar\u2019Adua and continued his instructions to him. \u201cGo and write your acceptance speech. Say something like this: \u2018I would like to inform you that after due consideration and consultation with the party, I have selected Peter Odili, the executive governor of Rivers State, to run with me on the same ticket\u2019. I want a copy of the speech and make sure Peter Odili\u2019s name is on it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Yar\u2019Adua went away and came back with the speech as directed indicating that Peter Odili would be his running mate, but it was clear that he was not happy. Pressure was brought to bear on the president to intervene and allow Yar\u2019Adua to choose a VP he felt he could work with.<\/p>\n

\u201cAhmadu\u201d, said Chief Obasanjo, \u201cdon\u2019t be too harsh on the young man. Let\u2019s give him twenty four hours\u2026\u201d
\u201cTwenty four hours! But\u2026\u201d the chairman was going to argue.
\u201cI know what you mean\u201d, Obasanjo cut him off, \u201cbut let us give him twenty four hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been a long day. Tired and hungry the chairman went home dreaming of eating something, taking a long drink and flipping into bed to catch some rest. This was about 1.00PM on the day of the convention. Meanwhile, unknown to the president, PDP governors were holding a secret meeting of their own to influence the choice of VP candidate. Clearly, they were not in favour of Peter Odili which the party leadership was contemplating. Even before Ali could digest this information (provided by his wife), he got a frantic call from Obasanjo. He, too, had got some information about the governors\u2019 plot.
\u201cAhmadu, come quick!\u201d
\u201cBut you know we have just\u2026\u201d
\u201cCome, please and don\u2019t argue. Quick, quick!\u201d
\u201cThe dream about taking some rest evaporated as Ali doubled back to meet the president at the Aso Rock Villa. He (Obasanjo) told the Senator about the governors\u2019 meeting. We must act quickly or the governors will hijack this thing. Anenih is on his way and I have already summoned Yar\u2019Adua. If he hasn\u2019t thought of a running mate, then we must impose one on him. This had been the senator\u2019s position exactly, all along.
\u201cAs soon as Yar\u2019Adua arrived, the president told him without any preamble, \u201cNow, name your running mate, now, now. We don\u2019t have twenty four hours.\u201d
\u201cGoodluck Jonathan,\u201d he said without hesitation. He had obviously thought about it or tutored to mention the name. Immediately, Jonathan was sent for.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen Jonathan arrived a little later, the president said, \u201cWe have summoned you here to offer to you the position of Vice President. What do you think?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cJonathan was stunned. He was obviously not expecting this and had not remotely considered the possibility. He opened his mouth as if to say something but nothing came out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe president seeing his discomfiture added helpfully, \u201cThis decision was taken after a long process. We just want to know what your opinion is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, Jonathan found voice, although he was disconcerted by this development.<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

\u201cWell\u201d, he began tentatively, \u201cIf I had a choice, I would prefer to remain as governor. I know the job. I know where I stopped. But this VP\u2026I don\u2019t know what it entails.\u201d After a look of disapproval from the chairman and the president, he added quickly, \u201cbut if you want me to serve in that position, I accept.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYarAdua turned to Jonathan and asked him, \u201cWould you like to be my running mate?\u201d
\u201cYes sir.\u201d<\/span><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

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\u201cPresident Obasanjo turned to the Chairman and said, \u201cAhmadu, take him to my parlour. The television crew are on their way for a press conference. You and Chief Anenih should stand on either side of him and let him announce the name of his running mate. The governors were still at their meeting scheming how to influence the choice of vice president when Yar\u2019Adua announced his running mate to the public in the foyer of the presidential villa. The announcement was carried live on NTA and other networks. This put paid to the PDP governors\u2019 plot to nominate a vice presidential candidate.<\/span>\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
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Former National Chairman of the People\u2019s Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Ahmadu Ali, has given an insider\u2019s details of how former president Goodluck Jonathan became the presidential running mate to the … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":272,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.quriusolutions.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}