"Why Northern Leaders Sneaked Yar’Adua Into Nigeria Without Telling Jonathan"

Why Northern leaders sneaked dying
Yar’Adua into Nigeria without telling
Jonathan
Tanko Yakasai was the adviser to President
Shehu Shagari (1979-1983) on National
Assembly matters.
A prominent politician and elder statesman
from Kano, Mr. Yakasai has been in politics
since 1946 when he was just 20-years-
old.Since venturing into politics over sixty
years ago, Mr. Yakasai has never been quiet
and has never failed to speak up on any
crucial political.
The octogenarian sought out Rariya
newspaper, after reading the interview
(also published by PREMIUM TIMES)
granted to it by former Vice President Alex
Ekwueme, to, in his words, set the records
straight on some issues raised by the
former vice president.
Excerpt:
Q. Seeing that the 2015 general election is
fast approaching, how do you view the
seeming crisis engulfing the ruling PDP and
even opposition parties?
A. Actually, I am not surprised for two main
reasons; firstly, since the pre-independence
election of 1956 to date, I have observed
that the country experiences some form of
political turmoil preparatory to every
presidential election. In fact, whoever is not
used to it will assume that the country will
go into flames, but the election always
comes and goes, and the country remains
intact.
That is why I always refer to Nigeria as a
canoe which doesn’t normally move in a
straight line, but is always swerving in all
directions to reach its destination.
In my opinion, the presidential system of
government which we have adopted from
the Americans is good, but on the other
hand also a bad one especially for a
country like Nigeria. It is good because of
the diversified nature of Nigeria. We need
to have a leader that would look at all
Nigerians as his own irrespective of region.
Our constitution has been made in such a
way that you must get substantial votes
across all the regions before you become
the president. In spite of that provision, it
has not stopped all the squabbles, because
every region prefers its son to be the
president; the reason being the privileges
attached to the office.
The politics of Nigeria has changed from
serving the country, to serving self. Both
the one seeking for vote and the one voting
are all looking for what to get out of it.
During the elections of 1959, the Action
Group made some calculations to the effect
that if they can get Yoruba votes, the
minorities in the north and some part of
the east, they would be the biggest party at
the time. And because the country was
practicing a parliamentary system at the
time, the party with the highest number of
parliamentarians forms the government.
NPC on the other hand, also made its own
calculations and realise that more than half
the people of Nigeria were in the north. So
it did not field even a single candidate in
the South; they just stayed in the north and
worked hard to have full control of the
region.
After election, the NPC got the highest
number of members of parliament and it
formed the government with Sir Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa as the Prime Minister.
That was when Action Group officials
realised that as long as the north
continued to hold that numerical
advantage, no Southerner would ever
become successful. Upon realising that they
cannot form the government through
election, they began to scheme on how to
topple the government, which led to the
arrest of the leader of the Action Group and
his lieutenants. They were prosecuted and
imprisoned.
Since then, if you observe, that is how it
has been, and that is why I am not
surprised about the ongoing political crisis.
The only surprise I do have is the internal
crisis rocking the PDP. That too, I have
done my own investigations, and I have not
found out the reason for it. I am not
convinced by the reasons being peddled in
newspapers, that it is because Bamanga
Tukur’s leadership style which people
found autocratic and that it was also
because of Jonathan.
Why hasn’t the crisis commenced when
Bamanga was first elected until now when
election is approaching? Even Jonathan,
had been in office for two years now; why
did they not revolt against him until now?
That is why I told you, the reasons for the
crisis as being reported is not convincing
for me.
Q. Five of the governors fighting Jonathan,
were at the fore-front of those who worked
for his election. Have you ever thought that
they would withdraw their support for him
so soon?
A. In politics, there is neither permanent
friend nor permanent enemy, everything is
guided by interest. I have never thought of
that, but when it happened, honestly, I was
not surprised. If I had the power to advise
these governors, I would have advised
them not to leave the PDP. My reason being
the PDP at the moment has 23 Governors,
15 of them from the north, and PDP is in
control in their states. If the North’s
strength is reduced in the PDP, it means we
will not be strong in the party in the next
election; the South would be stronger,
especially if Jonathan wins. Disunity is the
major undoing.
See Full Interview Here http://
premiumtimesng.com/news/150148-
exclusive-northern-leaders-sneaked-dying-
yaradua-nigeria-without-telling-jonathan-
tanko-yakasai.html

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