exposed a lot of people and a lot of things in it. Below
is an excerpt from the book...as posted on Facebook.
Y'all need to read this "By the Constitution, I had to inaugurate or
prorogue the National Assembly on June 4,
1999. The most important officer in the National
Assembly is the senate president and that office
had been zoned to the South-east. And here
was where Atiku Abubakar, my vice- president,first showed his hand and his
character. "Without seeking my view or approval, he started
planning the installation of Chuba Okadigbo as the
senate president. I did a background check on Chuba
including his past as a student and made enquiries
about him in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) under
(President Shehu) Shagari and no one would recommend him for the post of senate president. "I left Atiku to go on his chase while I carried out a
meticulous and detailed investigation and
background check on each senator from the South-
east. The one that appeared most appointable was
Evan Enwerem. I canvassed the senate across the
board for his election and he was elected. Atiku did not expect it and he felt sore. "He began to strategise for Enwerem to be
removed and Chuba Okadigbo to be installed. His
strategy worked because I was at Abuja airport to
receive a visiting head of state when the news
reached me that the Senate had impeached Enwerem
and elected Okadigbo. I was not perturbed. I came to understand from some senators including Florence
Ita-Giwa, who later became my Special Adviser/
Liaison Officer to the National Assembly, that Atiku
distributed US$5,000 each to some senators to carry
out the 'coup'.
"That was the beginning of bribing the legislature to carry out a particular line of action to suit or satisfy
the purpose or desire of an individual or a group. The
National Assembly had tasted blood and they would
continue to want more. From the day I nominated
Atiku to be my vice, he set his mind not for any good,
benefit or service of the country, but on furiously planning to upstage, supplant or remove me at all
cost and to take my place. "That was what I brought him for, but he was
impatient and over-ambitious.He was not ready to
learn and to wait. His marabout, who predicted that
despite being elected as governor, he would not be
sworn in as a governor, which happened, also
assured him that he would take over from me in a matter of months rather than years. "All his plans, appointments of people and his
actions were towards the actualisation of his
marabout's prediction. Once I realised his intention
and programme, I watched him like a hawk without
giving any indication of what I knew and letting down
my guard. I could not succumb to the distraction, diversion and malevolence of an ambitious but
unwise deputy. "The work in hand was more important than a
confrontationalrelationship with my deputy, a man
over whom I knew I had far more experience and
outreach in all matters. To alert him of what I knew
he was up to, would only lead to lying, denial, more
mischievous plans and more duplicity on his part. "He was better managed that way. What was
important was not allowing myself to be surprised or
outmanoeuvred by him. I must always seize the
initiative and know what was going on if not in his
mind, but at least in his camp. That I did very
effectively. "Sometime in the fourth quarter of 2004, an
associate of Atiku came to my residence at the Aso
Villa from Atiku's official residence. He felt
uncomfortable and I tried to make him feel at ease.
Then, he settled to tell me the story of what had just
transpired in Atiku's residence. I listened with rapt attention.
"He went on to say that Atiku told him that for him
to become the President of Nigeria, the 2007
elections were only a formality. "The seven ingredients he needed for his
enthronement were already in his hands. He
controlled the National Assembly because both the
President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
of Representativeswere in his pocket. He controlled
twenty-eight out of thirty-six governors. He had control of the media. His influence over the judiciary
was overwhelming. "What he needed was foreign endorsement and for
that he had employed two lobby groups in the US and
one in the UK. And finally, the money for the elections
was in his purse.
"When the man finished, I thanked him without
passing any comment. The man was surprised at my reaction and asked, 'You have nothing to say to
these?' I said that I had nothing to say and I
immediately called my ADC, Chris Jemitola, to play a
game of squash with me. "On our way to the squash court with my ADC, I
said, 'People at times make plans and leave God out
of their plans.' My casual remark struck Chris and
he said, 'Sir, that was a profound statement.' I
said that I made the statement because of what I had
just heard of Atiku's plan. I was not convinced he had put God in his plans. "Atiku was confident and God was laughing. Most of
Atiku's ingredients soon started to fall out of place
one by one. The first was the party, PDP.
"He thought I was powerless and had no clue about
the execution of his plan with his group; part of his
attack on me was for national chairman of the party to give the first salvo, then other things would follow
as his grip on the party would be firm and
consolidated. "That salvo came in the form of a letter to me from
the chairman of the party, Audu Ogbeh, who had fully
defected with (Iyorchia) Ayu to Atiku.
"The letter, which was not the product of any issue
or matter discussed with or at any party meeting,
came suddenly. When I received it, I could read the sinister intention behind it.
"I spent that night writing my reply and I sent it in
the morning. My reply was clear. I wondered why
Atiku and his group did not realise that with my reply,
the battle line was clear or maybe they thought that
the seven ingredients would remain intact to the end. "My assistants had moles within the Atiku group.
Anything that they planned would be reported. That
was the case after Ogbeh's letter. They decided
that Ogbeh should appear remorseful and come with
the National Working Committee to apologise to me. It
was not from their hearts, but to lure me to a 'killing ground'. "All pieces of information that were reported were
verified because it would not come from only one
informant. Timely information is a very important
principle of war and also of politics. In politics, just as
in war, what matters is not just your plan, but
knowledge of your opponent's plan. Knowing their plan, I had the choice of playing along with them or
being firm, I chose the latter.
"I told Ogbeh that my relationship with him as
national chairman and me as national leader of the
party was based on mutual confidence and trust. But
with his letter, my reply and what I knew of him then, I could no longer work with him in confidence and
trust. "There were only two choices left for both of us in
our best interest and that of the party – he, leaves as
chairman or I leave as leader of the party.
"The following Sunday, I called at his house, which I
had done on several occasions in the past when
there was an important party matter to discuss. This time, I asked him to give me an undated letter of
resignation as the national chairman. "I waited, he gave me but it was wrongly
addressed to me rather than to the national secretary
of the party as stipulated in the party's constitution.
"Ogbeh reported to his group and it was decided by
them to play on and to wait for my disgrace
whenever I presented a letter of resignation not addressed to the national secretary.
"The informants did their job and I, once again, paid
another visit to Ogbeh at his residence. He
entertained me to a meal and drink, and changed the
addressee on his letter of resignation.
"It would appear he never reported the change to his group. When I considered it opportune and
appropriate, the letter was dated and presented to
National Executive Committee of the party, which
regrettably accepted the resignation. "With that, whatever control Atiku claimed to have
over the party began to crumble. But he did not think
so and went on to boast that if I made my daughter
the national chairman, it would be a matter of weeks
not months before he would put her in his pocket.
"I therefore had to look for a successor chairman, who would be too big, uncompromising and inflexible
to be lured and controlled by Atiku. I found such a
man in Senator (Dr.) Amadu Ali, whom I had known
many years earlier as a medical doctor in the
army…"
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