- Plots by some loyalist of former president Goodluck Jonathan to abduct former INEC boss Attahiru Jega during the 2015 electioneering period has been revealed
- Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister under Jonathan claimed that Jega’s calmness during Orubebe’s outburst may have contributed in upending the plot
- He disclosed that there was a botched plan to bomb the International Conference Centre (ICC) where the results of the poll were collated
- The plotters also came up with the idea of a military takeover to prevent Buhari from taking over power
Bolaji Abdullahi, a former minister under Goodluck Jonathan from 2011-2014 has claimed that there was a plot to abduct a former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), Prof. Attahiru Jega, during the announcement of the results of the 2015 presidential poll.
This was disclosed by Abdullahi, in his book ‘On a Platter of Gold: How Jonathan won and lost Nigeria,’
Abdullahi who is now the national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said Jega was to be forced to resign or declare the election as inconclusive.
He claimed there was also a plot to bomb the International Conference Centre (ICC) where the results of the poll were collated.
Abduallahi pointed out that Jonathan was not aware of the multi-dimensional plots.
Those implicated included top military officers, a deputy inspector-general of police, Sotonye Wakama (who is from Okrika like the former First Lady, Patience Jonathan), heads of security agencies and senior politicians from the southsouth.
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The book reads in part: “In the early hours of Tuesday, 31st April, an urgent meeting had just been concluded in a private house in the Maitama area of the nation’s capital. At the meeting were some top military and security chiefs believed to be loyal to President Jonathan and some senior politicians from his South-South region.
“The meeting had been convened to save what was turning out to be a disastrous situation for their ‘son’. Something had to be done and it had to be done quickly. The situation appeared desperate, truly, but all was not lost yet. As long as the final results had not been officially announced, there was still a chance to do something.
“The first option on the table reflected the desperation of the moment. If an explosion were to go off near the International Conference Centre (lCC) where the results were being collated, this would create the situation that could allow some agents to move in and remove or burn election materials.
“This option was, however, rejected. Not only was it considered extreme. It carried a high risk of unintended consequences, especially with the menace of Boko Haram running wild and loose in the country, it could also lead to loss of lives.
“If the goal was to render the election inconclusive and stop the announcement of the final results, there must be some other way of achieving this.
“The other way was to mobilize as many people as possible to invade the venue and disrupt the collation process. This was seen as a better option. It was low risk and had the added advantage of live television coverage to show the whole world the injustice that had happened in Nigeria and how the lNEC was part of the conspiracy.
“No matter what happened, President Jonathan could not be informed of these plans. Everyone agreed that they had to save the President, even against his own will. It was a moment of blind passion. But this was not all about Jonathan. Apart from the personal benefits that had turned many of them into millionaires overnight, they saw the Jonathan presidency as the culmination of the Niger-Delta struggle that had started many years earlier and cost so much in human lives.
“It was the ultimate recompense for so much bloodshed, which would, perhaps, require more blood to preserve. But they also knew that President Jonathan was no militant. To some of them, he wasn’t even ljaw enough.”
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Abdullahi claimed the plotters decided to keep it away from Jonathan because they knew he would no doubt stop their plots.
According to him, for the plan to succeed, inspector general of police and the Director General of the Department of State Services (DSS) had to withdraw their officers from the International Conference Centre where the results were being announced.
Orubebe, was to spearhead the plot to cause chaos in ICC while others, including policemen will withdraw and allow a mob to cause the commotion which will lead to the abduction of Jega.
However, the IGP, Suleiman Abba, declared in no uncertain terms that the police would not be party to such obnoxious plan and instead of withdrawing his men; he decided to send in reinforcements which was a major setback.
On the botched plans to abduct the ex-INEC chairman, Prof. Jega, the book revealed that Jega’s calmness during Orubebe’s outburst and the stormy session is believed to have contributed in upending the plot hatched to truncate the electoral process.
“What the INEC chairman probably did not know at the time was that part of the plan was to abduct him under the smokescreen of the confusion that would ensure the moment the police began to fire tear gas canisters into the venue.
“Once abducted, he would either be forced to resign or to declare the election as inconclusive. However, with other actors not playing their part and the police not reacting as envisaged, all had gone awry within minutes,” Abdullahi disclosed in the book.
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Abdullahi said after all these failed, some of Jonathan’s loyalists brought up the idea of a military takeover to prevent Muhammadu Buhari from becoming the president, but the two most senior military officers at the meeting said it was too late.
In an earlier report by NAIJ.com, Abdullahi, claimed that some of the of the supporters of Jonathan wanted a military coup to prevent Buhari from assuming power after the 2015 presidential election.
He said after Jonathan had conceded the election to Buhari, it was suggested that the military should stage a coup.
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Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Saturday, 2 December 2017