By WILLY EYA, Lagos & Lucky Nwankwere, Abuja
Sunday, January 3, 2

“President Umaru Yar’Adua has written the National Assembly authorising his vice, Goodluck Jonathan to take over but the letter has been hijacked by a powerful member of his kitchen cabinet. Yar’Adua wants to handover but his wife, Turai being power hungry would have none of that”.

The above speculations and more, literally capture what has transpired in Nigeria in the last 41 days that President Umaru Yar’Adua has been away attending to his lingering health crisis in Saudi Arabia. Since the former Katsina State governor was ferried to King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, the nation without exaggeration, has become like a rudderless ship. As it is, virtually everybody claims some level of authority in analyzing the situation.

Among the cacophony of voices, there is no gainsaying that Yar’Adua initially enjoyed the sympathy of the majority. Nigerians wanted early recovery of the former lecturer so that he could settle down in the onerous job of piloting the ship of state.

But it seems the support for Yar’Adua is waning by the day. Many believe that the future of the nation should not be sacrificed on the altar of the president’s ailing health.
The consensus among critical observers is that the president should as a matter of urgency and based on the constitution handover to his vice until he fully recovers, all things being equal. But what many fail to acknowledge is that handing over to his vice is not a tea party.

According to a great thinker, Edmund Burke “Those who have been once intoxicated with power, and have derived any kind of emolument from it, even though but for one year, never can willingly abandon it. They may be distressed in the midst of all their power; but they will never look to anything but power for their relief”.

For John Kenneth Galbraith, power is not something that can be assumed or discarded at will like underwear.
Since Yar’Adua left the country, the question on the lips of many is: Why has it been difficult if not nearly impossible for Yar’Adua to handover to Goodluck Jonathan? Section 145 of the constitution states clearly that, “Whenever the president transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such functions shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President”.

Recently, political hawks reportedly convinced Yar’Adua to endorse the Supplementary budget to be operated till March next year. He was also said to have been worked on not to sign any document that would allow Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to act in his stead. But who are those that are still keeping Yar’Adua in power?
According to sources, apart from President Umaru Yar’Adua’s security staff and of course his wife, Hajia Turai, there are not many men who truly can be said to be powerful in the country’s seat of power, the Presidential Villa, popularly called Aso Rock. If the emphasis is on people who are not only close to the president, but also have the ability to influence his decisions and thinking, then there are arguably not many of them.

Turai Yar’Adua
For obvious reasons, she is one of those still keeping the ailing president in power. She appears gentle in appearance but in the eyes of political watchers, the First Lady is a strategist when it comes to power play and consolidation. Of course, she is not new to the corridors of power having been a First Lady in Katsina State when his husband was governor of the state. Feelers among sources to Sunday Sun indicate that she is adamant to her husband resigning his position. She is reportedly in control of the situation and still oversees what transpires in government through core loyalists of Yar’Adua’s administration. Sunday Sun learnt that as governor, when his husband was away for six months on a similar medical trip, she literally filled the vacuum in Katsina and feels that she could repeat the same feat in the present circumstance. Critical observers argue that for Turai, it is even more honourable for her husband to die as a president in case of the worst happening.

Before the last cabinet reshuffle, the media was awash with reports of how ministers desperate to retain their portfolios lobbied Turai to achieve their aim.
Many believe that the First Lady remained her husband’s confidant and influenced many of the decisions being taken even before he went for the latest medical treatment. It was gathered that Turai had become so influential in the Presidency to the extent that ministers and other top government appointees strive to be in her good books.
Political watchers argue that it is her love for power that made her give her daughter in marriage to prominent politicians. Yar’adua’s first daughter, Maryam, is married to Mr. Badamasi Kabir, a member of the House of Representatives representing Katsina Central while her daughter Zainab, is married to Kebbi State Governor, Usman Saidu Dakingari and another Nafisat, now married to Governor Isah Yuguda of Bauchi State.

Abba Sayyadi Ruma
The Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma is a known acolyte of the president. Born on March 13, 1962, he served as minister of state in the Federal Ministry of Education in 2005 under Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili and briefly as Minister of Education in 2007 when Ezekwesili left to take up a World Bank job.
President Yar’Adua appointed him minister of agriculture and water resources. Ruma, a kinsman of the president, is clearly one of the most powerful men in the villa. He uses his power and connection to the fullest.

When government, following a resolution of the Federal Executive Council, de-merged the ministries which the Obasanjo administration lobbed together in the restructuring exercise it carried out, Abba’s ministry could not be touched. That is why the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources remains not only key, but one of the largest ministries today.

He is believed to be one of the few men who could sway Yar’Adua’s opinion on any issue. His influence in the administration could be measured by the way his fellow ministers strive to secure his attention and support whenever they have any issue or memorandum requiring the president’s approval. All the changes made in the Yar’Adua administration were carried out with Ruma’s input and some of his colleagues owe their appointments to him.
Whenever any sensitive issue is to be thrashed out, it is the powerful click to which he belongs that handles it. Ruma does not feel perturbed in the face of several allegations of wrongdoings against him.

Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi
He is one of the president’s confidants. He was the director-general of Yar’Adua’s presidential campaign. Before his present post of chief economic adviser to the president, he had been the managing director and chief executive officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and deputy chief of staff to the president.
Tanimu served as secretary to Katsina State government under Yar’Adua as governor. His influence in the administration and villa is not in doubt. At Federal Executive Council meetings, his contributions to issues are said to be highly respected by the president. A member of the council once said no issue can truly be said to have been thrashed out if Kurfi does not say so.
He is a member of the powerful click in the villa who influences key policy issues and the stand of government. The chief economic adviser and his kinsman Ruma are prominent among those whose consent must be secured as a prelude to the president’s approval of any given issue.

James Ibori
The former Delta State governor, Chief James Ibori is clearly the most visible friend of the president in the villa. Believed to be the biggest financier of Yar’Adua’s election in 2007, he appears to have a firm grip on the president. Apart from his role in the president’s election, Ibori is said to be quite close to Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, the First Lady. It is said that there is hardly anything he cannot push through in the administration so long as Turai is in agreement.
In the early days of the administration, Ibori tried to keep a distance. He perhaps felt that decision was not in his interest and even with the court cases, he made his hold on the president a public issue. He has since become a regular feature in the seat of power. Ministers interested in keeping their jobs defer to him.

He is not assigned any particular portfolio, at least officially, yet the former Delta governor is often seen in the villa clutching files bearing documents. Many of the key appointments in the administration are believed to have received his input and approval. One of such is the Principal Private Secretary to the President. Mr. David Edebvie, who occupies that office was Ibori’s commissioner of finance between 1999 and 2004. Whatever power Edebvie is said to wield in the villa is largely derived from Ibori.

Sani Bagiwa
Alhaji Sani Bagiwa is the special adviser on special duties to the president. A very quiet and humble man, he and the president have maintained close affinity since their childhood. The president ensures that Bagiwa is present at most crucial meetings.
His opinions and stand on issues are said to matter a lot to the president. He is one man who is reputed to have the power to get the president change his mind or decision on any issue. Example is the $55.3 million debt quarrel between the NNPC and the offshore company, Lutin Investment Limited which the president had ruled should be resolved.
Almost two weeks after he had given approval for debt owed by the NNPC be paid on the strong advice of the Minister of Petroleum and the Attorney General of the Federation, Batiwa asked the president to rescind the decision.

Yayale Ahmed
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed is very well rooted in the Yar’Adua administration. He is not just the SGF, he is a close confidant of the president. He took over from the Ambassador Babagana Kingibe who was fired for being too ambitious and disloyal to the president. Before his appointment, Ahmed was the Minister of Defence. He is a trusted ally of the president. Given his position, there is hardly any key decision of government that does not receive his input. President Yar’Adua so trusts him that he is said to be blameless before him (the president). He welds so much influence in the seat of power that many see as the de facto second in command.

Michael Aondoakaa
Attorney General and Minster of Justice
From inception of this administration, there was no gainsaying that the Benue born Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) did not hide his unflinching support and loyalty for Yar’Adua. Even at the risk of going against the constitution, he has remained committed to the former Katsina governor. He is certainly among the crop of people still keeping Yar’Adua in office.

Defending Yar’Adua’s absence, he was once quoted as arguing that the president could exercise his powers anywhere and in whatever condition.
“Under the presidential system of government, the powers of the president are embedded in the person elected as the president. Wherever he is, he can exercise his powers as the president. If he is sick and that sickness does not affect his ability to exercise his powers, he can so exercise his powers on any issue affecting his country.
“The president can exercise his powers through his deputy and his cabinet ministers. I challenge any one to come out and say President Yar’Adua has not been exercising his powers” he said. Based on his support to Yar’Adua, he has remained influential in the administration.

Mohammed Abba-Aji.
Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters
From a less consequential position, he has imposed his influence on the administration especially since Yar’Adua left the country. Among political watchers, he is definitely one of those protecting the former Katsina governor from throwing in the towel. The calculation is that he is using the president’s absence to consolidate his relevance in the present administration.

Since Yar’Adua’s absence, Abba-Aji has appropriated the duty of the presidential spokesman and has always talked confidently on the president’s illness.
Talking once on the president’s health, he said,“What most people don’t know is that Yar’Adua will come back. When he was governor (in Katsina State) he was away for six months…and he did not only return to continue as governor, he went on to have a second term…and to contest the presidency of this country and win.

Source:  http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/powergame/2010/jan/03/powergame-03-01-2010-001.htm

So these are the movers and shakers of this shameful acts of illegalities going on in Nigeria.