Buhari should Have Jailed Obasanjo for Corruption – Abdullahi

Mon, Feb 19, 2018 | By publisher


Politics

The former Nasarawa Governor, who was a very close ally of Obasanjo, alleged that the latter could not be criticising the methods adopted by Buhari in executing the anti-graft war because he (Obasanjo) was not clean too.

 

FORMER  Nasarawa State Governor, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, on Monday in Abuja, criticised the position taken by former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida against President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid.

Adamu in faulting Obasanjo stated that the former President lacked moral standing to counsel Buhari against seeking a second term in office pointing out that the former President had sought even a third term in office.

The former Nasarawa Governor, who was a very close ally of Obasanjo, alleged that the latter could not be criticising the methods adopted by Buhari in executing the anti-graft war because he (Obasanjo) was not clean too.

President Muhammadu Buhari over acts of corruption while in power.

He noted with sarcasm that the comments by Obasanjo that the anti-corruption war of President Buhari was selective, was actually true, considering the fact that a man like Obasanjo walking free is a proof of what he (Obasanjo) alleged.

He said: “Chief Obasanjo said that President Buhari is selective in his anti corruption war. I agree with him because if the President were not selective, Chief Obasanjo himself would be in the dock today on trial on charges of corruption arising from the corrupt practices in the pursuit of his third term gambit in the National Assembly in 2006.

“He (Obasanjo) knows as well as I and other leading members of the PDP that he badly wanted it and initiated the process of constitutional amendment. He bribed each member of the National Assembly who signed to support the amendment, with the whopping sum of N50million.

“The fresh mint money was taken in its original boxes presumably from the vaults of the Central Bank of Nigeria and distributed among the legislators.

“The money was not his, and it was not appropriated by the national assembly as required by law. I therefore, agree that in failing to make former President Obasanjo account for the money, President Buhari is waging his anti-corruption war selectively.

“Nor should we forget that President Buhari has also not bothered to interrogate Obasanjo’s role in the Halliburton scandal for which some Americans are cooling their heels in jail. Perhaps President Buhari might wish to look in the Siemens affairs in which the Obasanjo administration was indicted.”

In his comments over the letter by IBB, Senator Adamu claimed that most of the economic and political problems in Nigeria today were caused by Babangida ‘s faulty transition programme.

“I wish to remind the general that although men have short memories, history has a long memory. We can trace nearly all our present economic and political problems to his transition programme.

“We cannot forget SAP that sapped the economy or the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election for which the nation is still paying a stiff price. It is not always advisable to be holier-than-thou,” he stated.

Aside the issue of corruption, the former Governor of Nasarawa state also punctured Obasanjo’s low marks for Buhari’s government on economy and security by declaring that Buhari inherited most of the problems afflicting the Nation from the two areas.

“Every administration grapples with problems thrown at it by circumstances beyond its control. President Buhari inherited an economy that was unsteady on its feet.

“He also inherited the security problems such as Boko Haram, armed robberies and kidnappings. Yes, I agree, that under his watch these problems should grow less, not more. But the solution to problems such as these, is a slow and agonizing process since he has no powers to simply make them disappear over night,” he said.

He lampooned Obasanjo further by alleging that his eight years in government almost ruined the hard earned democratic governance in Nigeria as a result of self-delusion and messianic mentality.

He said: “He waged his anti-corruption in a manner intended to rubbish all our reserved institutions such as the courts and the national assembly in a way to be the only Nigerian without palm oil on his hands.

“The courts quaked over his unconstitutional rampapage. Chief Obasanjo left our democracy in a lurch. He was like a wrecking ball. In 2007, he alone, decided his successor in office contrary to the rules of the game, the repercussions and consequences of which are now history.

“I worked closely with Chief Obasanjo in his eight years in office as President when l was Governor of Nasarawa State. I found many things to admire in him.

“I admire his patriotism and his hard work. But he systematically sabotaged his legacy by bending the system to his personal service and promotion. I do not admire his single-minded determination to promote himself as the strongest and the most incorruptible leader Nigeria has ever had.

“He waged his anti-corruption war in a manner intended to rubbish all our revered institutions such as the courts and the National Assembly and leave him as the only Nigerian without palm oil on his hands.” Adamu added.

The former Nasarawa State Governor defended the allegation of nepotism against Buhari stating that it was normal for Presidents all over the World to appoint persons they trusted into offices.

On the health problem of President Buhari for which Obasanjo asked him not to seek re-election, Adamu stated that those raising the issue are not as healthy as the President.

He accused Obasanjo of attempting to rubbish all former Presidents and making himself the most successful and cleanest.

“As a friend, I wish to advise the former president to pull back from the dangerous path of rubbishing all presidents that came into office after him. Bringing everyone down is not a patriotic duty.

“I fear that if he continues along this path, he would, sooner than later over reach himself and begin the inevitable descent into national nuisance and irrelevance. That would be a self-inflicted wound and a personal tragedy,” he declared.

He added by declaring that the coalition Obasanjo advocated for in his statement would not fly being an exercise in political skullduggery and warned that if he doesn’t desist from his behavioural pattern, he will end up being a national nuisance and irrelevant figure.

He, however, said that similar reaction was not needed for the purported statement issued by former President Ibrahim Babangida since according to him, it is wrapped in controversy of genuineness. – Independent

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