Nigeria Today

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday met behind closed doors with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Robert Dewar, and United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Ms Robin Sanders.

Jonathan first met with Dewar at about 1pm in his official residence at Akinola Aguda House in the Presidential Villa before he had audience with Sanders in the evening.

Journalists were initially invited to cover both engagements but the Presidency later decided that they (meetings) should be “private.”

Details of what transpired at the meeting between the Acting President, Dewars and Sanders were not made known by any of the attendees.


Dewar, who emerged from the meeting in company with some British government officials, did not talk to journalists.

Also no official statement was issued by either the Presidency, the British High Commission or the US Embassy in Abuja.

But a senior official in the Presidency who spoke off the record because he was not authorised to speak on the matter explained that the envoys were in the State House to discuss “crucial issues” relating to the transition of power in the country, particularly against the backdrop of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s illness and the 2011 elections.

He said, “The meetings were requested by the British and US governments owing to the urgency of the issues on the ground.”

The source, however, could not confirm whether Dewar and Sanders passed across any suggestions to Jonathan concerning Yar’Adua’s state of health and the “crucial issues.”

When one of our correspondents sought further explanations about the meeting from the British High Commission, Abuja, a diplomat who insisted that his name should not be in print, replied a terse SMS, “The British High Commissioner, Dewar, met the Acting President earlier today (Sunday). Its part of a regular dialogue. They discussed cooperation on a range of priority areas.”

As at 9.30pm on Sunday, the Jonathan – Sanders meeting was ongoing.

Jonathan had received strong backing from the British and US governments when he emerged as Acting President.

While Yar’Adua was still receiving medical attention in Saudi Arabia, and before Jonathan became Acting President, the US had called for a transition of power in Nigeria.

A former British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, and former US President George W. Bush had visited the Akinola Aguda House to congratulate Jonathan on his emergence as Acting President.

Blair met Jonathan on February 20, 2010, while Bush visited him a day after.

The US had through its Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, Johnnie Carson, said on February 25, 2010 that “Nigeria needs a strong, healthy and effective leader to ensure stability of the country and manage Nigeria’s many political, economic and security challenges.”

Two days after, the British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, in a letter he personally signed, congratulated Jonathan on his assumption of office at Acting President.

Jonathan has just returned from a four-day visit to the US on the invitation of President Barrack Obama.