Jonathan Told Me They Didn't Allow Him See Yar'Adua Till They Showed Him A Dead Body In Villa—Sowore

Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has disclosed that he once held the belief that late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua died shortly after he was flown back to Nigeria in 2010, but said his understanding later changed following a conversation with former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a video he shared publicly, Sowore narrated an interaction he had with Jonathan sometime last year, during which the issue of Yar’Adua’s death came up. 

Sowore explained that when he mentioned his long-held view that Yar’Adua passed away soon after his return to the country, Jonathan questioned the source of that belief and suggested that the reality was more complex.

According to Sowore, Jonathan told him that even while serving as Vice President, he was completely denied access to Yar’Adua when the ailing president was brought back to Nigeria. 

Jonathan reportedly said he was not permitted to see Yar’Adua alive at any point during that period and was deliberately kept away from him by those managing the situation.

Sowore claimed Jonathan further revealed that the first time he was allowed any form of access was when officials showed him a corpse inside the Presidential home.

He said Jonathan told him that the body he was shown was later taken to Katsina State for burial, adding to the secrecy that surrounded the president’s final days.

Sowore noted that this account, as relayed by Jonathan, contradicted what he had believed for years about the circumstances of Yar’Adua’s death. 

He said the revelation reinforced long-standing questions about transparency, power struggles, and information control within the Nigerian government at the time, especially during the period of uncertainty that followed Yar’Adua’s prolonged illness.