Jonathan succeeded Yar'Adua as Nigeria's president after the latter died barely after three years in office.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan has spoken glowingly about Hajiya Dada Yar’Adua, the late mother of his predecessor, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Jonathan said without the deceased, whose late son brought him into the limelight of national politics, Nigerians wouldn't have known his name.

The former President said this when he paid a condolence visit to the Yar'Adua family in Katsina on Saturday, September 7, 2024, following the matriarch's death.

The former President's mother died at the Katsina Teaching Hospital on the evening of Monday, September 2, 2024, after a brief illness aged 102.

“It is really touching to me. It was her son who brought me as his running mate and without this lady, you wouldn’t have known my name. So she was like my mother and this is like the death of my mother,” Jonathan said.

The former Bayelsa State Governor revealed that he was on his to Kigali, the Rwandan capital when he received the news of the death, and as he returned to the country, it was necessary for him to be in Katsina for the condolence.

“It is a very sad moment for all of us. I travelled on Monday because I was going to Kigali. When I arrived at Adis Ababa our head of mission there told me about the sad news.

“On behalf of myself, my team, my community and my state, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Yar’Adua family and indeed to the people of Katsina State.

“She was a mother that we lost, but Allah has blessed her. To live that long shows that Allah has accepted her. She was a good woman, she was a blessed woman, she brought children that contributed significantly to the development of our great nation,” he said.