by Azeez Adeniyi

Former Senate President, David Mark has said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan made the National Assembly delay the passing of the anti-gay bill because of President Barack Obama’s reelection bid.

Mark made this claim in ‘Against the Run of Play’, a book written by Olusegun Adeniyi, former media aide to late Umaru Yar’Adua.

Mark said Jonathan caused a delay in the passage of the bill because of Obama.

“President Jonathan called me that President Obama had sent to him a message of concerns about the bill. That was in 2012 at a time Obama was seeking a second term in office,” he said.

“President Jonathan asked what could be done and I told him that not only was I committed to the passage of the bill that was also the position of the national assembly.

“I said the only thing I could do was delay its passage till after the American presidential election. But I assured him that the same-sex marriage was not something we would legalise in Nigeria.

“We delayed it for a few months after that, but we eventually passed the bill into law and President Jonathan had to assent.”

Jonathan in the book had claimed Obama and other world leaders ensured he lost the 2015 election.