In a revelation that peels back the curtains on one of Nigeria’s most consequential political fallouts, former Jigawa State Governor and elder statesman, Alhaji Sule Lamido, has opened up on the turning point in the relationship between late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua and his political godfather, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Lamido made the disclosure in his newly released autobiography, Being True to Myself, where he dedicates an entire chapter titled My Relationship with Yar’adua to recounting the behind-the-scenes intrigues that rocked Aso Rock in the aftermath of the controversial 2007 general elections.
According to Lamido, it was a memo – simple on paper, yet explosive in implication – that changed everything. The memo, authored by Yar’adua himself, sought to table comprehensive electoral reforms before the National Council of State. What seemed like a patriotic gesture quickly exposed deep fissures in the relationship between the new president and the man who installed him.
Lamido writes that Yar’adua’s decision to own up to the irregularities that marred the 2007 elections—a rarity in Nigeria’s political terrain—was not just an act of humility, but a bold signal that he intended to chart a course different from Obasanjo’s. The admission shocked the political establishment. Here was a president acknowledging the flawed process that brought him to power—and setting up machinery to reform it.
The reforms Yar’adua championed, Lamido insists, were not cosmetic. They were deep, structured, and designed to sanitize Nigeria’s electoral process for generations. But this didn’t sit well with Obasanjo, who viewed the move not only as a betrayal but as an implicit indictment of his administration’s legacy.
“The memo marked the beginning of Yar’adua’s quiet rebellion,” Lamido writes. “It was in that moment that Yar’adua, always the reluctant leader, began asserting his independence. And in doing so, he drew the ire of his benefactor.”
The fallout, Lamido reveals, set off a quiet but significant cold war in Aso Rock, with loyalists on both sides whispering and maneuvering in the shadows. For a man who came into office heavily indebted to Obasanjo’s political machinery, Yar’adua’s attempt to sever that umbilical cord was both audacious and dangerous.
The episode, as narrated by Lamido, casts fresh light on the short-lived but impactful presidency of Umaru Musa Yar’adua—a leader whose humility, sincerity, and quiet defiance continue to stir debate years after his untimely demise.
As Nigeria grapples with the legacies of its past presidents, Lamido’s account adds a new layer to the complex tapestry of truth, loyalty, and betrayal in the highest corridors of power.