Tambuwal: How Dickson lobbied for Jonathan to become acting president

Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto, says the emergence of Goodluck Jonathan as acting president was due to the actions of some people including Seriake Dickson, governor of Bayelsa.

Jonathan became acting president in 2010 after his principal, Umar Musa Yar’adua, died.

Speaking on Sunday when he paid Dickson a condolence visit to commiserate the death of his mother, Tambuwal said Dickson approached him during the heat of the tension after Yar’adua’s death to work out the process of Jonathan’s emergence.

Tambuwal said Dickson persuaded him to accept the plan to make Jonathan acting president in the interest of national unity which he obliged as the then leader of the north-west caucus in the house of representatives.

“God has elevated you to become Attorney General of Bayelsa, then a member of the National Assembly and now Governor of Bayelsa State. And even in the National Assembly, you played several major roles that helped to stabilize this great country,” a statement by Fidelis Soriwei, Dickson’s special adviser on media relations, quoted Tambuwal to have said.

“I remember very well when we had to collaborate with you and work with you to ensure that our dear brother and leader, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was made the Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“To those of you who may not be aware, my brother and friend approached me being the leader of the North West to say my brother, we have to do this in the national interest and I agreed with him. And both of us agreed and drafted that resolution that made Goodluck Jonathan the acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“So it is not today that my brother Dickson and I have been working to stabilize this country. You are a great son of the country, you are a great son of this community, you are a great son of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

In his remarks, Dickson thanked Tambuwal for the show of solidarity.

He restated the decision of the Dickson family to establish a cancer awareness centre in honour of the memory of his late mother to prevent avoidable deaths from the deadly disease.