Former Nigeria Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd.) best kept secret has been revealed by ex-Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi (retd).

“We returned from Kano and went into the Chambers to decide who would become the Commander in Chief. While in Kano, some senior officers had decided that the COAS (Bamaiyi) would take over the government”

“I had never been interested in any political office, had avoided them so far, and had no intention of taking up the positon of Commander in Chief. I made this clear to the senior officers who insisted I should take over, including Generals SVL Malu, Magashi, and Aziza.

“I was aware that some junior officers who were against my taking over as Commander in Chief because they knew I would not tolerate them in service.”

“Despite my lack of interest, the problem I had with Gen. Abubakar who eventually emerged as head of state and commander in chief was that of convincing the senior officers to accept him because he had been convicted by a court martial sometime between 1970 and 1972 for tampering with soldiers’ salaries.”

“Rather than serving two years imprisonment, being dismissed or reduced in rank having been found guilty by the court martial presided by the late Colonel Nenger, Gen. Abubakar’s former classmates at the Provincial Secondary School, Bida, at the Army headquarters worked it out and reduced the sentence to a reprimand.”

“Officers were not prepared to accept an officer with a record of conviction as a Head of State. The issue of succession now fell to me, and some of the commanding officers and the staff told me I had to take charge to save the situation. I told them I believed in Abubakar and we should support.”

“While this was going on, some junior officers were campaigning against Useni and me. They believed that once I took over, they would be in trouble, but I never had any intention of taking any political post. I had joined the army not for politics.”

“When I told the senior officers I would not take over as Commander in Chief, the officers close to me said I was going to regret my action. I did not believe them because General Abubakar and I had been very close since we had been Lieutenants and played hockey for 2 Mech. Div. with Generals Shehu Yar’Adua, and Useni.”

“As soon as we got into the chambers, Abubakar started distributing papers as if there were going to be an election. Meanwhile, people were there with Bibles and Qurans because they did not know who the Commander in Chief was going to be.”

“It took a lot of persuasion to get the officers to accept Gen. Abubakar. This was why during the swearing in of the Commander in Chief, the Quran and the Bible were brought into the chambers unknown to many officers and the PRC members.”

“When it was my turn, I got up and announced we had all agreed that Gen. Abubakar was to be the Commander in Chief and had been promoted to a four-star general. Abubakar was sitting next me. That was how we succeeded in making Gen. Abubakar the Commander in Chief in spite of his record of conviction.”

“The minutes of the meeting taken by one T. Fagbemi clearly stated that I nominated Mr. Abubakar and also suggested that the new head of state be promoted to the rank of a four-star general.”

“He (Abubakar) started holding meetings with Generals Babangida and Aliyu Gusau. I was receiving reports of their getting together. I did not bother myself about such meetings because I knew we were not staying long in government.”

“Unknown to me, Gen. Abubakar had already committed himself to Generals Babangida, TY Danjuma, and Aliyu Gusau on General Obasanjo’s coming in to take over from him – a proposal I totally objected to, which I told Generals Abubakar, TY Danjuma, and Aliyu Gusau in very clear terms.”

“My stand did not go down well with the generals, and Gen. Abubakar started feeling unsafe. He started using some officers, especially from Intelligence, to write all sorts of reports against me saying I was too ambitious and wanted to be the Commander in Chief since no one would have stopped me from taking over after General Abacha’s death.”