President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday celebrated his five years in office since he took over the mantle of the nation’s leadership from the late President Umaru YarÁdua in 2010.
Jonathan was inaugurated as the President by the then Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu on May 6, 2010, following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua on May 5, 2010, who he served for three years as Vice President before his death.
May 6, 2015 coincided with the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, he only asked two ministers to pray according to Christian and Islamic injunctions.
That was a clear departure from the past when the second stanza of the National Anthem was always used as the opening prayers for the council meetings.
Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, and the Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda, took turn to render special prayers for the President, his family and the nation.
Jonathan took council members by surprise when he arrived the Council Chambers and announced that a member was celebrating his birthday.
When members could not identify the person celebrating, the President came to their aid, saying it was the anniversary of his Presidency.
They all clapped to the admiration of Jonathan.
“Today, we will not say the national prayer. Somebody is celebrating birthday so we will offer special prayers for him. Two very Godly people will pray, Nebo and Yuguda. Do you know the person celebrating?” the President had asked.
“On May 6, exactly five years today, I was sworn-in as the substantive President,” he explained later.
