While Nigeria’s President, Umaru Yar’Adua, lay critically ill in King Faisal Hospital in faraway Saudi Arabia, throwing the country into confusion over the leadership vacuum, Turai Yar’Adua, the President’s wife, was surreptitiously orchestrating an elaborate power scheme and was, in effect, running the affairs of the country.

Fresh evidence, obtained exclusively by NEXT, shows a grand plan in which Mrs. Yar’Adua, assisted by some politically connected Northerners, curbed the powers of the Executive Council of the Federation and tried to curry the favour of loyalists and foes alike in an effort to retain the family’s hold on power. For more than two months, the group - the ‘cabal’- succeeded in warding off all efforts to fill the leadership vacuum and thereby frustrated constitutional processes.





Multimedia: Read excerpts of Turai's secret emails here

It is not very clear whether Mrs. Yar ‘Adua was protecting the interests of her ailing husband; indeed, it appears that she may have been more interested in holding on to the influence that her current position afforded her.

Spanning a period of about five weeks from December 15, 2009, series of email show the lively discourse that took place between Mrs. Yar’Adua, members of the executive council, legislators, presidential aides, and some prominent Northern elites. Events took a dramatic turn when in late December, she went beyond her loyalists and reached out to a well known antagonist, Nasir El-Rufai, the former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Analysts believe that this may have been an attempt on her part to garner the support of politically strong Northerners while also bridging the gap between loyalists and rivals. Mrs. Yar’Adua says otherwise.

“Nasir wallahitallahi duk yadda ka dauka ba haka bane [Nasir, by God, honestly, it is not what you think] I just want to help you out,” the first lady said in an email to Mr. El-Rufai on January 14, 2010.

Seeking Power

While the nation simmered and accusations and counter accusations flew across groups, the parliament and the presidency, Mrs. Yar’Adua was subtly making plans on how to retain power.

According to sources who spoke on conditions of anonymity, the 80 day delay in handing over presidential powers to Vice-president Goodluck Jonathan was engineered by the first lady’s to solidify her power in the light of her husband’s dwindling health.

“This whole thing was about power. You must remember that she had the hope that if her husband became incapacitated, she would be made the vice president,” our source said.

Having been assured of the loyalty of her husband’s cronies, Mrs. Yar’Adua took the next step to woo her antagonists.

“It is all about power. She was trying to gather friends and to neutralize enemies. Because she wanted to be made the VP, she felt that if she could win over her enemies, then they would not oppose her ambitions,” another source said.

When contacted by NEXT, Mr. El-Rufai, who is currently exiled in Dubai and has been in the fore front of asking for the president’s resignation, said he did not know what sort of help Mrs. Yar’Adua wanted to offer him.

“I did not have a clue what help she was offering. I did not care and I did not think that she was in a position to help me,” the former minister, said.

A subsequent email sent by the first lady to the former minister however gives a clue on what Mrs.Yar’Adua hoped to offer Mr. El-Rufai in return for his support.

“Amma nayi maka Alkawari ba wani wanda ya isa ya kara wata magana Akanka [but I make you a promise that no one will ever again complicate your situation] if I remain the first lady,” Mrs. Yar’Adua promised in an email sent to Mr. El-Rufai on January 18, 2010. She may have been referring to the eight-count charge, brought against the former minister by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Last year, on Wednesday, May 6, 2009, the EFCC charged Mr. El-Rufai to court on charges including abuse of office, and followed this up by declaring him wanted on account of his failure to appear before the courts. Mr. El-Rufai insists that he did no wrong and that he was being persecuted by those whose toes he had stepped on while he was the federal capital minister.

The middle man

Serving as the channel for the initial correspondence between the two parties was Baba Adams. Mr. Adams, a Nigerian who serves as the director of Research and Assessment at the Northcentral University, Prescott Arizona, presented himself as the middle man trying to establish contact between the first lady and different parties.

In one of the messages sent on December 24, 2009, Mr. Adams in an email to the president, via the first lady, appealed to him to cede power to his deputy. Mr. Adams copied several parties in the mail including members of the Executive Council of the Federation, some legislators, aides of the president, and some prominent Northerners. Mr. Adams copied the Sultan of Sokoto; Buba Marwa, a former military governor and current ambassador to South Africa; Mohammed Abba Aji, the presidential adviser on presidential matters; David Mark, the Senate president; Tanimu Yakubu, the president’s economic adviser; Babatunde Osotimehin, the minister for health and a close ally of the Mrs Yar’Adua; Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney General; and Ojo Maduekwe, the Foreign Affairs minister, among others.

It is unclear what Mr. Adams’ relationship is with these people but a legislator who was copied in the email, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a House of Representatives member, denied having a personal knowledge of Mr. Adams while also denying a personal relationship with the first family.

“I have no idea what you are talking about. If you are talking of my role as a parliamentarian, and a member of the Action Congress, no problem. But in terms of personal relationship, none at all. I met Yar ‘Adua once, as governor of Katsina State, when some House of Representatives members, were on a visit to Katsina. Perhaps, Mrs Yar ‘Adua might recognise me as a member of the parliament, and a former NTA staff she probably sees on TV sometimes. My stand was very simple: hand over to your deputy. I believe Mr. Adam copies his mail to some senators and members, as he normally does,” Mrs. Dabiri-Erelu said to NEXT.

Mr. Adams’ next step soon after that email was to take steps to link up Mr. El-Rufai with the Mrs Yar’Adua.

“I just got an e-mail from Her Excellency, Hajia Tura’i Yar’Adua, the First Lady of the Federal Rupublic of Nigeria from Saudi Arabia. She wants to speak to you by telephone - so please can you email me your best contact phone number. With all due respect to you and the First Lady, we will appreciate if you will keep this communication confidential to avoid any unnecessary altercations,” Mr. Adams said in an email dated December 26, 2009. Thus began the correspondence between the former minister and the first lady.

“Maganar taimakon da kike cewa za ki yi mani, na gode amma ba na bukatar taimakon wani dan Adam, domin na kai kara wurin Allah, Subhanahu wa ta’ala[As for the assistance that you want to render to me, thank you very much, but I do not need help from any human being, because I have left everything in the hands of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta’ala],” was the final response sent by Mr. El-Rufai to the first lady in an email, dated January 16, 2010.

Mr. Adams did not respond to email enquiry on his motivation for the various mails he sent to the different parties.

Neutralising enemies

Mrs. Yar’Adua’s quest for power led her to seek reconciliation with those who had hitherto fallen out of favour with her family. Mr. El-Rufai was just one of many.

According to knowledgeable sources, the aim of the reconciliation exercise was for the sole purpose of neutralising opposition by renewing friendships which had long gone sour.

Others who Mrs. Yar’Adua reportedly approached were Ahmed Muazu, the former governor of Bauchi State; Attahiru Bafarawa, former governor of Sokoto State; Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president; and Ibrahim Babangida, former military president.

“Initially, these people were her friends but the relations between them deteriorated,” sources said.

Which of dis statements r corekt? Mrs 'Turai Nigeria' has made Yar'adua a family busines or Mrs 'Turai Yar'adua has made Nigeria a family busines, which 1? im beginning to wonder,

she will soon become history because she is a problem to nigeria. her candle has been put out. JEZEBEL