Abacha’s Inner Circle Wanted Akhigbe As His Successor But I Had Odds In My Favour- Retired General Abdulsalam Abubakar

A significant new details have emerged in respect of the last moments of late General Sani Abacha and the succession intrigues, power struggles, and the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that occurred as the then top military brass competed to take over as new Head of State.

It has also be made known that the nation narrowly missed having a naval officer as its Head of State for the first time.

Only army officers have at different times served as Military Heads of State in the country.

Late General Sani Abacha was the military Head of State from November 17, 1993 to June 8, 1998.

He died at the Presidential Villa on June 8, 1998.

Team@orientactualmags.com learned that retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar talked about the death of Abacha and the subsequent power struggles in his autobiography titled ‘Call of Duty’.

The presentation ceremony of the book in question was held in Abuja on Saturday and the event was one of the activities and programmes organized to mark Abubakar’s 84^th birthday.

Retired General Abubakar served as the nation’s military Head of State from June 1998 to May 29, 1999.

The disclosures made by Abubakar in respect of Abacha’s last moments are contained in Chapter 19 of the ‘Call of Duty’.

He began by talking about the first call he had received from the Presidential Villa;

‘On Monday, 8 June, I was waiting for him concerning the assignment he said he had for me. I received a call very early in the morning that he was going to be retired. There was no other way to interpret that.

I quietly prayed that he would not send me to Togo where there was going to be an ECOWAS summit. I was tired of going everywhere.

I was effectively in detention, I didn’t want to travel to Togo. I told my wife I was not happy with the call because I was still hoping I wouldn’t have to travel to Togo’ he said.

Not long after that, retired General Abubakar said he was asked to come to the Presidential Villa to meet the Head of State.

‘As I entered the bathroom, there was another call. I was told that the Head of State wanted to see me.

Out of frustration, I asked if it was travelling to Togo and the caller replied that it was on a different issue.

Because of the urgency, I didn’t wear my uniform. I wore a tracksuit and slippers and proceeded to the Presidential Villa. On getting to his residence, I was told he was not in the office.

One of the guards informed me that anytime I went to see him, regardless of who was with him, I would still go in. After waiting for about half an hour, I wondered why he would be that early in the office.

As I was climbing the stairs, (One of the guards informed me) that Abacha said I should stay in the waiting room. What struck me was that Abacha said I should stay in the waiting room.

Major-General Ishaya Bamaiyi joined me shortly after. We waited for about an hour. I decided to go and see Abacha by any means because I could not understand why we should be kept that long. I asked Bamaiyi if he was aware that we had been locked inside.

Something kept telling me that something was wrong but I could not place a finger on it.

After some time, the door was opened and the Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, came in.

He said: ‘Let’s go.’ We walked towards the office and I informed him that I was told Abacha was at the residence.

It was at this stage that he informed me that Abacha was dead. I was shocked. I asked him what happened and he insisted we proceed first. He did not tell me anything else.

When we got to the residence, I asked to see Abacha’s body. I was told it was inside. I entered the room and removed the covering. I was in shock at the sudden development. I prayed for him and left the room. Then lots of conversations began.  I saw a lot of people coming in. I saw Al-Mustapha. I am not sure I saw Brigadier-General Ibrahim Sabo, the Director of Military Intelligence.

I remember Alhaji Babagana Kingibe was there. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Muhammadu Uwais, was there as well.

We deliberated on how to break the news to the world. The CJN said the first thing was the appointment of a new Head of State to avoid a vacuum before informing Nigerians,” said Abubakar’ he submitted.

The retired General also disclosed that the inner circle of the late General Abacha had wanted late Admiral Mike Akhigbe as new Head of State while noting that it was eventually left between him and late General Jeremah Useni and he had odds in his favour.

Admiral Mike Akhigbe later served as Chief of General Staff under Abdulsalami.

He died of throat cancer in New York on October 28, 2013

‘It then occurred to me that all along, some of those we met at the Presidential Villa, the so-called ‘inner caucus’, were not even involved in preparations for the burial.

They were more interested in who was going to be the next Head of State. Bamaiyi and I would not be involved in the process, according to their plan.

They were preparing to pick the new Head of State from among themselves.

As the Chief of Defence Staff and next in hierarchy to the Commander-in-Chief, the No. 2 position was vacant following the removal of General Diya, over an alleged coup, I chaired the PRC meeting.

I went home to change my tracksuit for the military uniform. After initial deliberations, I informed the meeting that one, General Abacha had passed away; two, the family wanted him to be buried in Kano; three, the CJN had advised that we could not leave a vacuum, hence the need to have a new Head of State.

We began discussions and were not anywhere near reaching a conclusion. It was getting late. Someone who had his own idea complained that we all knew the tenets of Islam and instead of going to bury Abacha, we were busying talking about who was going to be the next Head of State.

I immediately pointed out to him that it was not our idea but it was state protocol. We then agreed to break and go for the burial and converge afterwards.

We went to Kano around 2am. Little did we know that the ‘inner caucus’ had got wind that something was fishy. They had left officers on the ground with instructions that they should not allow any drama.

We did not sleep that night. We returned to Abuja around midnight and resumed that night. Little did we know that the burial was just a decoy to perfect whatever they had up their sleeves.

While we were in Kano, they were already preparing to swear in their preferred choice, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, the Chief of Naval Staff, and Major-General Sarki Muktar, who was GOC of 1 Division, had got wind that something was fishy.

All the GOCs, FOCs, AOCs and members of the PRC were in attendance. The PRC didn’t have civilian members but for the SGF and secretariat staff who were taking minutes of the meeting.

There were people who wanted Major-General Bamaiyi to be the Head of State. Before we returned from Kano, some approached me to make a case for him but I waved them off. Still, Abacha recognized me as one of the insiders.

The contest was directly between Lt-General Useni and me, being the two most senior officers in military affairs, although Useni was no longer involved in military affairs. I was senior to Bamaiyi but he was next in hierarchy as next in hierarchy. I was senior to Useni and me, being the two most senior officers in military affairs. I won the vote. That was how I became the 11th Nigerian Head of State’ he added-Team@orientactualmags.com  Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08035023079,  08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com.  Thank you