Abacha’s Return To PDP Confirms 2015 Deal With Jonathan

Mohammed Abacha

Yesterday’s announcement by Mohammed Abacha, a son of former military dictator Sani Abacha, that he was rejoining the Bamanga Tukur faction of the Peoples Democratic Party has confirmed our earlier exclusive report of a deal between, on the one hand, President Goodluck Jonathan, and, on the other, family and associates of the late military ruler.

Mr. Abacha’s declaration of support for President Goodluck Jonathan’s 2015 presidential bid runs counter to the agitation by many Northern members of the PDP for political power to shift to the region in 2015.

A central figure in the deal is Abacha’s erstwhile Chief Security Officer, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha. Mr. Al-Mustapha’s murder conviction was recently set aside by a controversial appellate court decision. Earlier, a high court had found Mr. Mustapha guilty of ordering the assassination of Mrs. Abiola, wife of Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election that was annulled by then Head of State Ibrahim Babangida. SaharaReporters had disclosed that the former CSO’s conviction was overturned as part of a deal with the Abacha family. Since his release, Mr. Al-Mustapha has been mobilizing underground support for President Jonathan’s 2015 re-election bid.

A source revealed that the Abacha family and Mr. Al-Mustapha have been mobilizing their resources, associates and connections to woo supporters to line up behind Mr. Jonathan. The source declared that yesterday’s decision by Mohammed Abacha to rejoin the PDP was the culmination of the deal.

“Mohammed’s action today is an indication that the Abacha family, including his widow, has confirmed its commitment to Mr. Jonathan,” said a close associate of Mohammed Abacha. He defended Mr. Abacha’s decision, stating, “President Goodluck [Jonathan] has shown more trust to them than all these key northerners [who are] pretending. See how Abdulsalami Abubakar treated them, up to Obasanjo. Where were Babangida and all these northerners?” He continued: “See what happened to Hamza Al-Mustapha. Who implicated him and all the associates of Abacha? It was Jonathan that influenced Al-Mustapha’s freedom; it was the same men that honored Abacha as the Head of State that created Bayelsa State. It was the same Jonathan that freed the Abachas from many traps, which I cannot mention for now.” He stated that the Abachas’ demonstration of their commitment to Jonathan “has just started.”

Since his release from jail, Mr. Al-Mustapha has been meeting and associating with staunch supporters of President Jonathan, including Asari Dokubo. Mr. Mohammed Abacha’s speech yesterday made clear his involvement in Mr. Jonathan’s 2015 bid. “When I left the PDP in 2010, my view was that it had no internal democracy, but in CPC, the experience was ...very bitter. There was a major issue that challenged all of us while in the PDP but we met it in a bigger and more huge manner in the party we went to. The APC today is not an option.”

Mr. Abacha added: “With the new NWC and the chairman coupled with the efforts they have been making to ensure that the party is taken to the next level, that was what enticed us. We have consulted as far and as wide as we could and this resulted in us taking the decision to come back to the PDP instead of going somewhere else.

“PDP is widespread and covers every part of the country and it is the party that is in power; it is the party that has made the change that we are witnessing today in our country and which we hope we will continue to witness in the coming years by the Grace of God.”