Prominent activist and co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Aisha Yesufu, has reignited conversations around the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration, faulting his management of both his health and the country’s affairs during his time in power.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Yesufu revisited the controversies that trailed Yar’Adua’s presidency, particularly his prolonged illness and the constitutional crisis that unfolded before his death in 2010.
“Whether he is Fulani or Hausa, I don’t know. His illness was not mocked. He refused to accept he was ill,” she wrote, referencing a viral clip in which Yar’Adua dismissed rumours about his deteriorating health, saying he would soon invite people to play squash.
The activist recalled that even during the 2007 presidential campaign, when Yar’Adua was flown abroad for emergency medical care, questions had already emerged about his fitness to serve. She cited former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s now-famous phone call — “Umaru, are you dead?” — as an indication of the uncertainty surrounding Yar’Adua’s condition at the time.
Yesufu criticised the late president for failing to formally hand over power to then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan during his medical absence, a situation that forced the National Assembly to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity to stabilise governance.
She also accused Yar’Adua’s inner circle, including his wife, of meddling in state affairs, alleging that a “powerful cabal” exploited his health crisis to seize control of the government while sidelining Jonathan.
In addition, Yesufu faulted some of Yar’Adua’s policy decisions, notably his reversal of the sale of Nigeria’s refineries, arguing that proceeds from such transactions could have been channelled into education and national development.
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Reflecting on the secrecy that surrounded the late president’s return to Nigeria shortly before his death, Yesufu described it as “disrespect of the highest order,” claiming that Jonathan—then acting president—was not informed of Yar’Adua’s arrival.
“Nigerians like to romanticise the past and they do it with every leader—and if you happen to be dead, the better,” she concluded, before adding, “Allah ya jikan marigayi.”
Her post has since triggered a storm of reactions online, with some users agreeing with her frank assessment, while others defended Yar’Adua’s legacy as one of integrity and reform.