The immediate past Senate President, David Mark, has revealed that ex-President Goodluck Jonathan lost the support of key members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who discreetly worked against his re-election due to the suspicious nature of his wife, Patience Jonathan.
Mark’s claim was contained in the book, ‘Against the Run of Play’ written by the Chairman ThisDay Board of Editors and former Presidential spokesperson, Olusegun Adeniyi.
In the book, the former Senate President alleged that both Jonathan and his wife turned former Speaker of the House of Representatives and current Governor of Sokoto State into a political foe.
Jonathan’s relationship with Tambuwal was said to have been frosty, a situation that eventually led to his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP to the then opposition and now current ruling party, All Progressives Congress, APC.
Reacting to the relationship, Mark said he tried to mend things between the duo but Tambuwal was still looked upon with suspicion.
According to Mark, “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,” he said.
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 but 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 radicalized Tambuwal and turned him into a political foe.”