David Mark reveals how Jonathan and Tambuwal fell off politically

- Former President Goodluck Jonathan fought so many political battles while in power

- One of his famous political battles was with the present Sokoto state governor, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal

- Tambuwal who was then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was not in the good books of Jonathan and his wife, Patience

Former Senate President, David Mark has revealed how ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience turned the Governor Aminu Tambuwal into a political foe.

Mark made the comment in the book titled ‘Against the Run of Play’, written by the chairman of Thisday newspapers editorial board, Segun Adeniyi.

Mark specifically said the former president’s wife was suspicious of those around her husband.

According to him, Jonathan lost the support of key members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who either went to the opposition or discreetly worked against his re-election.

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Jonathan’s relationship with Tambuwal was frosty because he had emerged as a speaker against the wish of the then ruling party.

The PDP's hierarchy then favoured Honourable Mulikat Akande from Osun state, but Tambuwal had majority backing from the lower house members.

Tambuwal, as speaker, eventually defected from the PDP to the then opposition – the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mark said he tried to defrost the relationship, but Tambuwal was still not trusted by Jonathan and his wife.

His words: “I took him (Tambuwal) and Emeka (Ihedioha) to the president for a meeting where they gave assurances that they would cooperate and work with the government. But there was always a concern from the Jonathan camp that Tambuwal was an ambitious politician.”

The former senate president also said that the former first lady had fears that he was nursing a presidential ambition as well.

“I guess she (Patience) had the same fear about me even when she never said it to my face. She once accosted Senator Joy Emordi to say, ‘Joy, I hear you are the manager of David Mark Presidential Campaign Organisation’, which was a baseless accusation.

“I had to meet the president to clarify issues with him. So, I would say it was President Jonathan and his wife who radicalised Tambuwal and turned him into a political foe.”

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Meanwhile, Mark blamed Jonathan for his failure to win the 2015 general elections. According to the Benue-born retired Army colonel, he hinted to Jonathan about the conspiracy against him in the north before he lost the 2015 presidential elections.

He further stated that he saw the defeat coming and had pointed out the unrealistic voting projections made by the party about the north to the former president.

Source: Legit.ng