There was a power vacuum at the presidency and Otedola says he and IBB helped plug it.
With President Umaru Yar’adua writhing on his sick bed in 2010, and as the nation yearned for a leader as protests engulfed Abuja, billionaire businessman Femi Otedola and former military dictator Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) had a chat that changed the course of events.
In a new book scheduled for release in November, Otedola says IBB told him to advise then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to sit on Yar’adua’s empty chair at the next Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, in order to force the issue.
Jonathan did, the National Assembly invoked the famous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ and on May 5, 2010, Nigerians watched on television as Jonathan was sworn-in as President after Yar’adua was declared dead on the same day.
Yar’adua and the cabal around him, had refused to hand over power to Jonathan as he battled for his life abroad.
Otedola writes that: “Worried by the tension and uncertainty, I decided to do something on my own. In the first week of February 2010, I went to Minna, Niger State, along with Hajia Bola Shagaya, to commiserate with General Ibrahim Babangida over the death of his wife, Maryam.
“At his Hilltop residence, we spoke on a wide range of issues, but I told him I needed to discuss an urgent and vital issue. He took me to his study, where the two of us were alone. I told him that the state of the nation had been agitating my mind.
“He replied, ‘Femi, advise your friend that when he gets to the Council Chambers next week for the Federal Executive Council meeting, he should go and sit on the President’s chair.’ I found that fascinating and assured him I would pass the message across.
“I travelled back to Abuja by road in the evening and went straight to have dinner with Dr. Jonathan. I did not waste time in delivering the general’s message to him.
“He nodded and asked me, ‘What do you think?’
“I laughed and said, ‘Be a man, Your Excellency. Go and sit on that chair!’
“He looked at me for some time and responded that he would think about it.
“A week later, on Tuesday, February 9, the National Assembly adopted the famous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to make Dr. Jonathan the Acting President pending the return of President Yar’Adua from his medical leave.
“Behind-the-scene moves by prominent Nigerians preceded this decision. The legislative resolution was unprecedented, but the nation had been tensed up. The fault lines were so stoked that an unusual solution was needed to address the unique situation.
“With Jonathan now legally empowered to act as President, there remained the critical optics: would he stand in for the President confidently and authoritatively? Or would he try to maintain a subdued outlook?
“The following day was the FEC meeting. As Dr. Jonathan entered the council chamber, he was made to sit on the chair of the Vice President — his usual seat.
“As the protocol officer pulled out the VP’s chair, Dr. Jonathan marched towards the seat reserved for the President. And he sat on it!
“That was the moment Dr. Goodluck Jonathan took control of power. By that act, he sent a strong signal to all Nigerians that he was now in charge. The same day, Jonathan even reshuffled the cabinet.”
Jonathan would go on to win the 2011 presidential election and commence his fresh term of four years.
He governed Nigeria until 2015 when he lost that year’s presidential contest to former military head of state Muhammadu Buhari.
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