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Tag: Obasanjo

  • Obasanjo wrote Bush over my U.S property – Kalu

    A former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, told the Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday that former President Olusegun Obsanjo wrote his United States counterpart, George W. Bush, to enquire about his (Kalu’s) property in the U.S.

    The former governor accused Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who was impeached as deputy governor, of writing a petition against him due to “bad blood” between them.

    While cross-examining a prosecution witness in Kanu’s trial for alleged money laundering of about N2.9billion, the former governor’s lawyer, Prof. Awa Kalu (SAN), said Obasanjo had interest in the property.

    He, however, did not state the nature of the former President’s interest or what Obasanjo wrote in his letter to Bush.

    A forensic investigator at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chidi Chukwuka, said he was not aware that Obasanjo wrote Bush over Kalu’s property.

    Kalu was said to have bought the Potomac house worth $1.7million in 2003.

    Chukwuka said the letter between Obasanjo and Bush, if there was any, was of no interest to the EFCC.

    Kalu also alleged that there was a similar correspondence between Obasanjo and former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

    “I suggest to you that it was not only the EFCC that was interested in the property in Exhibit W1. I said so because then President Olusegun Obasanjo had correspondence with then U.S President, George W. Bush,” the lawyer said.

  • Buhari, Trump and Obasanjo

    EVIDENTLY buoyed by the outcome of his state visit to the United States, President Buhari has been quite upbeat in reporting and reminiscing about his interactions with the flaky and cantankerous President Donald Trump. In one widely publicised photograph of the visit, the US president leaned fondly over President Buhari with an avuncular grin and a penetrating gaze at the camera. The Nigerian president himself beamed as he signed the visitors register. There are no details yet to illustrate how well President Buhari held his own during his private meeting with the abrasive and impatient Mr Trump. But if their joint press conference is any guide, then President Buhari’s lingering and celebratory mood may be hard to explain or justify. The Nigerian president managed to avoid a disaster, but there were many gaffes and uninspiring moments, with the American president coming to his aid now and again.

    Perhaps feeling justified that the president’s unimpressive performance was striking enough for everyone to see, former president Olusegun Obasanjo used the US visit as a handy tool to fiercely debunk social media gossips suggesting that he had endorsed the president’s re-election bid on account of that visit. Ex-president Obasanjo was excoriating, according to a statement by his spokesman, Kehinde Akinyemi. He writes: “For the record, Obasanjo has not and cannot endorse failure. His position remains as stated in his January 23, 2018 statement on the state of the nation. Chief Obasanjo sympathises with the plight of the campaigners and supporters of Buhari. He doesn’t believe dishing out fake news that can only be believed by imbeciles will turn black into white. Nigerians know that Chief Obasanjo has only spoken the truth about widening poverty, alienation and social disunity and near disintegration of the country through Buhari’s incompetence. Obasanjo will continue to exercise his right to free speech and no amount of hate speech will assuage Nigerians who are in need of a brand new leadership. The mediocre performance of Buhari cannot be described by anybody as ‘superlative’ even by morons, not the least President Obasanjo.”

    Obviously, there will be no let up in the former president’s attacks against President Buhari, especially as the general elections draw near. But expect, as the president’s exultant mood in the US showed, a more confident and daring President Buhari to boldly take on his enemies, including Dr Obasanjo, who until last week the presidency treated with deferential esteem.

  • Presidency hits Obasanjo over Buhari’s visit to U.S.

    CONTRARY to the views in some quarters, President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the United States (US) was beneficial to the country, the Presidency said yesterday.

    The Presidency scored the visit high, saying the President was satisfied with its outcome.

    In a statement, Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) Mallam Garba Shehu said the President got all he wanted from the U.S. government.

    Although it did not say so, the statement was in response to criticisms of the trip by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and others.

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and some individuals are among those that condemned the visit.

    In a statement on Wednesday, Obasanjo dismissed the trip, saying: “For whatever the meeting (between President Buhari and U.S. President Donald Trump) was worth, President Buhari again bungled another opportunity to self-redeem.”

    But in the statement titled: “Takeaways from the auspicious meeting between Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Donald Trump,” Shehu said the visit would strengthen ties between both countries.

    Shehu said his write up was informed by the position of “the opponents of this administration, who have prayed and prayed very hard that our President in the course of his historic visit to the White House on Monday, April 30, 2018, would stumble badly or come back with nothing.”

    He added: “President Buhari, to the disappointment of this group, delivered a calm, brilliant performance. He refused to be provoked and did not get angry at the taunting. He instead turned his attention to the task at hand and at the end, came home satisfied that he got everything he wanted from the US administration.

    “The Rose Garden worked out very much for him as a routine engagement, certainly not like the make-or-break meeting as some wanted it to be.”

    Shehu went on: “It is also important that records be set straight to counter the mischief of opponents, some of whom have started rendering false narratives of a meeting to which they were neither invited nor in any way aware of its details.

    “The meeting of the two leaders happened in three phases. First, the one-on-one in which only the two of them were present. Then they had a working lunch, each leader accompanied by 10 top officials. President Buhari had with him the governors of Ogun and Plateau; the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Industry, Trade and Investment; the chairpersons of Senate and House of Representatives committees on international relations; the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA; the Chief of Defence Staff and Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States.

    “The US President had more-or-less the same representation, except that the Secretary of State who just got cleared for the job by the Senate hadn’t assumed office, so he was represented by the Deputy Secretary of State.

    “President Trump also brought with him the Director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) which I must emphasise, is significant to Nigeria given the fact that the U.S. remains the largest contributor to the on-going effort to reconstruct the Northeast and resettle its millions of displaced persons.

    “The third engagement involving the two leaders was the joint press conference by the leaders, aired live by some major television networks across the world.”

    According to Shehu, the two leaders got on very well with each other. They also shared a common respect for each other. Some key remarks made by President Trump on our President sum this up. He said President Buhari ‘is a rare leader’; he said ‘I respect him a lot’ and said our leader had ‘succeeded in cutting down corruption’. He called President Buhari a ‘valued partner’ and a ‘strong democrat’.

    On the gains of the meeting, Shehu wrote: “The two parties had agreed before the meeting that discussions will be on three key issues, namely security/counter terrorism, trade, and development of democracy in Nigeria.

    “On security, the Nigerian delegation was pleased from the onset that the Trump administration had agreed to the major sale of military equipment to Nigeria. Team Nigeria was equally pleased about the much-increased role of the US in assisting the efforts to defeat terrorism in Nigeria and the Lake Chad region in general.

    “The President expressed appreciation for these and requested additional support to counter insurgency.

    “On the specific issue of the sale of the 12 Super Tucano A-29 warplanes and weapons to Nigeria to effectively fight terrorism, President Buhari told his American counterpart that we are pleased with this, but want delivery to be fast-tracked, given the security situation in the country.

    “Expectedly, President Trump said yes to this, and, additionally promised the sale of helicopters and about just everything President Buhari wanted.

    “Still on President Buhari’s meeting with Trump, it is important to explain the context of the remarks by President Trump where he was quoted as saying the U.S is concerned about the murder or killing, as he put it, of Christians. At the press conference, President Trump, towards the end of his remarks, mentioned the protection of ‘innocent civilians of all faiths, including Muslims and Christians’, which reporters left out.”

    Shehu said: “In his remarks, the US President neither chided nor talked down on President Buhari. Saying that ‘we will do something about that,’ is a clear expression of willingness to support Nigeria to bring to an end the unwanted killings. This is contrary to the press reporting which jumped on the issue, conveying a wrong impression that President Trump was only concerned about the lives of Christians. He mentioned Muslim lives as well.

    ”Equally wrong was the hasty condemnation of the U.S. President by some Muslim groups in the country without the benefit of a full view and understanding of what was said and the context in which it was said.

    “The President also conveyed the country’s appreciation for the U.S. support for the humanitarian situation in the Northeast, with a contribution of 500 million US Dollars in cash and in-kind contributions, the highest by anyone, through the United Nations and other inter-governmental organisations.

    ”But the scope of work to be done is larger than anyone had envisaged and Nigeria wanted the US to do more. President Trump didn’t say no, only that he wanted more access to the Nigerian market for their agricultural goods.

    “For a country which we assist with USD 1 billion dollars every year, you must do more to open the market to us,” Trump said. These are matters to be debated and resolved.

    “This leads us to the next important issue- Trade. Pointedly, President Trump did not mince words when he said: ‘‘President Buhari has also taken several steps to fight corruption and improve the Nigerian business climate.  And most of all to me — and again — is ripping down those trade barriers.  These measures will make it easier for Nigeria and the United States companies to invest.  And we will be investing substantially in Nigeria if they can create that level playing field that we have to very much ask for, and maybe demand.

    “With the blessing of the two leaders, assets recovery is also getting a major boost. The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was directed to sit down with Jeff Sessions, his US counterpart, to have a roadmap for the recovery of USD 500 million of Nigerian stolen assets hidden in the US. They will also finalise on the return of USD 1 million of the Diepreye Alamieyeseigha loot.

    “Immediately after the bilateral engagement, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama and Minister of Justice, Malami, met with their U.S. counterparts. In the months ahead, the Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, will also meet with his U.S. counterpart, Wilbur Ross.

    “When he was asked if Nigeria had succeeded in getting America to buy more of our oil, President Buhari said he did not. We have others buying our oil. Must we sell to a particular buyer?

    “This government will smartly work with the current American government, knowing that American interests are not always ours, as a strategic partner on security, anti-corruption economic growth and job creation.”

  • I ‘ll never endorse Buhari, says Obasanjo

    •Presidency: statement not worthy of response

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said he would never endorse President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term.

    The former leader insisted that his position in a January 23 statement that Buhari should not seek re-election remained valid.

    Obasanjo also dismissed the President’s visit to the United States, saying it achieved little or nothing for the country.

    He spoke through a statement by his media adviser Kehinde Akinyemi in response to widespread insinuation on the social media that he was now backing Buhari for another term.

    In the statement, Obasanjo linked his purported change of mind claim to sympathsers of the Buhari administration.

    But the Presidency dismissed the statement as unworthy of response.

    Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina said: “The statement is not worth responding to. The original item being shared on social media did not emanate from us, and if a spokesman is idle enough to use it to vent a spleen once again, good luck to him.”

    Obasanjo’s spokesman said: “From the Buhari/Trump meeting, Chief Obasanjo only saw through three points:  One, the US will continue to reduce purchase of crude oil from Nigeria and there is nothing Nigeria under Buhari can do about it; two, the US will export agricultural products to Nigeria and Buhari’s government will encourage that; and three – all the killings taking place in Nigeria by herdsmen are being done by expatriates trained by Gadaffi and no Nigerian is to blame and Buhari cannot do anything to stop it.

    “For whatever the meeting was worth, President Buhari again bungled another opportunity to self-redeem. No wonder President Trump ordered him in a rather condescending manner to go back home and stop the killings going on in Nigeria! We hope now Buhari will heed Trump’s advice which hopefully will be considered non-abusive.”

    The statement added: “For the record, Obasanjo has not and cannot endorse him. Chief Obasanjo sympathises with the plight of those campaigners and supporters of Buhari. He doesn’t believe dishing out fake news that…will turn black into white.

    “Nigerians know that Chief Obasanjo has only spoken the truth about widening poverty, alienation and social disunity and near disintegration of the country under Buhari. Obasanjo will continue to exercise his right to free speech and no amount of hate speech will assuage Nigerians who are in need of a brand new leadership…

  • Why Yoruba rejected me in 1999, by Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday said his failure to secure the endorsement of the late Afenifere leader, Senator Abraham Adesanya, cost him Yoruba votes in the 1999 election.

    Obasanjo said thrice he tried and thrice he failed to get the Southwest approval through Adesanya.

    The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) and Alliance for Democracy (AD) chieftain, Obasanjo said, was forthright in turning him down.

    The former military ruler, who beat Chief Olu Falae of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in that election, spoke in Lagos at the 10th memorial anniversary lecture in Adesanya’s honour.

    Obasanjo said: “I did not know Pa Adesanya in my early days or in his early days in politics. I came to know him when I was going into politics myself. So, of course, of necessity, the paths of politicians do cross.

    “I persuaded myself, as I was persuaded, to vie for the post of president. And I decided to consult leaders all over the country, and one of the leaders I had to meet was Pa Abraham Adesanya.

    I remember I got his home address and phoned him. I think the first day I called on him, that would be about 10pm. But he was waiting for me and he received me very, very warmly. That was also the first occassion where I met his daughter, Mrs. Modupe Adelaja, who went on to become one of my ministers.

    “When I met Pa Adesanya, he did not mince words at all and went straight to ask why I came as I am not with the ‘Afenifere and NADECO’ group.

    “I told him, ‘I don’t know who is the ‘us’ you are talking about. But, you’re a politician and I am going into politics, and as a well-born and bred Yoruba boy, I have to pay homage to you, I have to consult you.’

    “Pa Adesanya said, ‘Hmm… but, I will not support you.’

    “I said, ‘well, alright, but all the same, it must be my duty and responsibility to inform you, to let you know that I have been persuaded and I’m going into this. So, we parted.”

    “As I went on in the consultation, I met him a second time and the same thing happened. I told him I came to give him progress report and he said again, ‘we will not support you’ and I said alright.

    “Again, he asked me why I was not in their group and I told him their group was alright but it was limited, and I believe that we should not be limited. He told me again that they will not support me.

    “I visited him a third time; this was just before the election. I told him I came to give him update and the third time Baba said ‘we will not support you’.

    Adesanya, according to Obasanjo, was “consistent and to the point”.

    “And of course, as the results of the election turned out, I was not supported by the Yoruba in the Southwest for the 1999 election,” Obasanjo said.

    He praised Adesanya as a man of integrity who did not seek political favours for himself, family or allies.

    Obasanjo said he appointed Mrs Adelaja a minister without her father’s knowledge.

    Obasanjo said he did not regret appointing the late Chief Bola Ige and Mrs. Adelaja, who were AD members, ministers during his administration.

    “But then, Pa Adesanya did not know how his daughter, Dupe, became a minister in my government because I did not consult him. On two occasions when I visited Baba, Dupe was the one who served drinks and refreshments.

    “When after the election I decided that I was going to bring people from parties other than PDP, I decided to take Bola Ige and Dupe Adelaja to represent AD in my government and Baba never talked to me about it and I never talked to him about it.

    “Dupe played her role — a dutiful and diligent minister — and I have no regret for taking Dupe and Bola Ige as ministers in the administration that set up the present democratic dispensation,” he said.

    Obasanjo hailed the family and friends of the late Adesanya for organising the event. He described him as a man who deserved to be honoured.

    “My prayer is that the legacy of Pa Adesanya will continue to influence the way things move in this country. People like them are not many; we need to create more of Adesanyas,” he said.

    Everyone watched when on arrival at the symposium’s venue at the Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos, Obasanjo was ushered to the front row to sit in between the event’s chairman, former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

    There is no love lost between Obasanjo and Atiku, who were elected on PDP platform, but fell out with each other while in office.

    They exchanged pleasantries before Obasanjo took his seat. The former president left shortly after his speech.

     

  • Obasanjo’s ‘don’t run’ letter was abusive, says Buhari

    President orders recruitment of 6,000 policemen ‘States can’t fund own police’

    PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in the United States (U.S.) spoke on former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s January 23 “Special Statement”, which asked him not to seek reelection in 2019.

    The statement, the President said, was “abusive”.

    The statement generated heat across the country, with some analysts backing Obasanjo and others condemning him.

    The President spoke during an interview on the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) in Washington D.C. He is on a four-day visit to the U.S.

    The President said despite perceiving the letter as abusive, he refrained from replying in kind. Rather, he said, he authorised that the government’s reaction should be to tell the country what it has achieved.

    The President said:  ”Even when the Minister of Information and Culture wanted to reply that abusive letter written by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, I told him not to. I later allowed him but only to highlight the achievements of our administration.’’

    In his statement titled: The way out: A clarion call for Coalition of Nigeria Movement, Obasanjo accused the President of nepotism, having a poor understanding of politics and engaging in blame games rather than accepting responsibility for his failure.

    The statement read: “Whatever may be the state of President Buhari’s health today, he should neither overpush his luck nor over-tax the patience and tolerance of Nigerians for him, no matter what his self-serving, so-called advisers, who would claim that they love him more than God loves him and that without him, there would be no Nigeria say.

    “President Buhari needs a dignified and honourable dismount from the horse. He needs to have time to reflect, refurbish physically and recoup and after appropriate rest, once again, join the stock of Nigerian leaders, whose experience, influence, wisdom and outreach can be deployed in the sideline for the good of the country”.

    On VOA yesterday, the President said he had ordered the recruitment of 6,000 policemen to boost security in the country. But he said he feared that states might not be able to fund their own police, which many governors and others are pushing for.

    He urged Nigerians to abide by constitutional provisions on the matter.

    Governors are the leading advocates of state police. In February, Nigeria Governors’ Forum

    Chairman and Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Yari said the creation of state police would help in addressing insecurity in the country.

    At the end of a summit organised by the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Review of Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria, he said: “Today we have reiterated the position of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    “And the position of the security summit we held in August, that there is a need for state police; we can say it is the only answer.”

    But, the creation of state police, the President said, would not augur well for the finances of the states, adding that some of them were finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations to workers and other needs.

    “We must carefully look at the position of the Constitution on the issue of state police before we take a final decision on the matter; if the Constitution allows state police , so be it.

    “But don’t forget that many times the Federal Government gave out what we referred to as ‘bail out’ to state governments for payment of workers’ salaries. How many states can pay salary promptly? And you want to add more financial burden to them.

    “It is not proper to employ a person, train him on how to handle weapons and then refuse to pay him – you can imagine what would happen in such situation.’’

    According to him, his statement on some Nigerian youths being lazy was quoted out of context. The President said he hardly listened to music.

    He said additional measures were being put in place to check insecurity.

    “We will put in place more measures to check insecurity in the country , including increasing the number of policemen and training them.

    “I have approved the recruitment of 6,000 policemen by the police authorities and I directed that those recruited must come from all the 774 local government areas of the federation.

    “Even if it means recruiting one person each from the 774 local governments, they should do that instead of going to motor parks, railway stations or market for the recruitment.

    “I gave (police authorities) them this directive,’’ he said.

    The President said the media only preferred to interpret and report what they liked about his comment on youths during the Commonwealth Business Session in London last month, instead of concentrating on developmental issues.

    He said: “You know Nigeria’s population is now between 180 and 190 million and 60 per cent of this population are youths that are 30 years downward.

    “You know in the North most youths are uneducated or school dropouts. If not because we had good harvests in the last two farming seasons the situation would have deteriorated.

    “These youths even if they travel out of the North for greener pastures, they hardly make it economically because what they earn as income cannot afford them to meet their basic needs or return home.

    “All these explanations I made, they refused to highlight them in their report and you know the media in Nigeria in most cases only do what they like.

    “For instance the nation’s achievements in the agricultural sector where millions of Nigerians benefited financially were left unreported by the media.

    The President debunked insinuations that Christians were being killed by herdsmen.

    He said clashes between farmers and herdsmen had been on for the past years, adding that herdsmen were not in the habit of carrying dangerous weapons while moving their animals around the country.

    On what he does during his leisure time, he said he hardly listened to music but rather always obeyed his doctors’ advice on the need to eat and take enough rest.

     

  • 2019: It won’t be easy to remove incumbents, says Obasanjo

    • Banks on youths to do the magic

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo admitted yesterday that dislodging elected public office holders from power in next year’s election would be a herculean task for the opposition.

    The solution, according to him, however lies in the opposition winning over the youths whose collective effort, he said, can do the magic.

    Obasanjo, the brain behind the Coalition for Nigeria Movement (CNM), told members of the group at a meeting in Ibadan that whatever needed to be done to make power change hands should be done.

    He charged youths in particular to get prepared to take over the mantle of leadership of the country.

    His audience included former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who is the National Coordinator of the movement; former deputy governor of Oyo State, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja; two former secretaries to the Oyo State Government, Chiefs Olayiwola Olakojo and Ayodele Adigun; Obasanjo’s close associate  Otunba   Oyewole Fasawe; and a legal luminary, Hammed Raji  (SAN).

    Obasanjo is a leading campaigner against President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection.

     

    He said: “Some people believe that those that are in position, whether they are doing well or not, they must continue to be there. But when we say they must not be there, they will want to fight back. They will do many things to wreak havoc, but everybody must be prepared. It will not be easy to wrest powers from them. If you think it will be easy to liberate Nigeria, you are deceiving yourself.

    “But the God that did it yesterday will do it again today. We have seen this before. In this Nigeria, we have had a situation that we had five political parties and the five parties nominated one person as candidate for presidency. If only his nuclear family had voted for him, he would have won.

    “But our God is wonderful. God laughed. Now, God is laughing. When the time came, God revealed that He’s God. He is the omnipotent, omnipresent and eternal, who can do all things and who can make all things possible. But if we are leaving things to God, we have to do our own side.”

    “I just want to join in assuring you that the philosophy of what we have is CNM, and what it will transform to will not be different.

    “We have not had a political party in this country that is grounded in the grassroots. All our political parties are elitist. We have not got a party in this country that has given a pride of place to the youth.

    “The youths under 40 years old form more than 65 per cent of our population. Now, who will tell you that because you are under 40 years old, you cannot play a very significant role in the affairs of your country?”

    Going down the memory lane, he added:” I was Head of State when I was under 40. Now, France has elected a president that is under 40 years old,” he said.

     

     

     

  • ‘Ndigbo should listen to Obasanjo, Danjuma’

    NATIONAL Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Chief Raphs Okey Nwosu has said Igbo should listen to some elderstatesmen or perish.

    Nwosu said they are ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and ex-Defence Chief T. Y Danjuma, who ‘’spoke out on how the country is drifting’.

    Nwosu, the convener of Coalition for Nigerian Movement (CNM) in the Southeast, urged Ndigbo to work with CNM to ease out this government.

    He spoke yesterday in Awka, at the zonal meeting of CNM,  accusing the APC government of perpetrating carnage and destroying property.

    According to him, the meeting was a call for Ndigbo to dump APC and collaborate with CNM, which is ‘the best alternative for their rescue from poverty, hunger, recklessness and ethnic cleansing’.

    He said: “Every Nigerian leader is embarrassed by the state of the nation, where people are attacked, killed, raped and displaced in their homes.

    “We can condemn, but most political leaders must advocate action against these senseless killings and seek how to design a democratic action plan to ensure we take care of this conundrum democratically, and say enough is enough.”

  • 2019: Obasanjo under fire for anti-Buhari campaign

    Soyinka, Falana attack ex-president at Gani lecture

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo came under fire on Sunday for what was termed his posturing on national issues.

    Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and activist lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) carpeted him and former military President Gen. Ibrahim Babangida for pretending to be “messiahs”.

    Soyinka, Falana, former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, former Kaduna State Governor Balarabe Musa, Senator Shehu Sani, Afenifere chieftain Femi Okurounmu and a presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, among others spoke at the 80th posthumous birthday for Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN).

    The theme of the lecture was “Democracy for the masses through proper and effective governance.”

    Though Soyinka and Falana did not name Obasanjo, it was clear they were referring to him in their speeches.

    Nigeria, according to them, is in danger when politicians like Obasanjo, who “supervised the sacking of democratic governments” in Oyo and Anambra states pretend to be messiahs.

    Under Obasanjo’s presidency, Dr. Chris Ngige was abducted by armed policemen and forced to sign a resignation letter at gunpoint in July 2003.

    In January 2006, his administration influenced Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja’s impeachment by the House of Assembly.

    The Court of Appeal in November 2006 quashed Ladoja’s impeachment.

    In a special statement on January 23, Obasanjo asked President Muhammadu Buhari not to contest the 2019 election as he has “failed.” He promised to lead the battle to prevent Buhari’s return to office with his coalition. He has also been meeting with groups and individuals in his bid to truncate Buhari’s second term bid.

    The President has announced his intention to run again on April 9.

    Soyinka said: “All I want to say in connection with the title of today is just one word: vigilance….There is no question whatsoever that democracy is in danger.

    “And so I find it ironic that those who’ve proved themselves the enemies of democracy who’ve really taken, they’ve really committed acts, not just negligence, but actually inaugurated certain policies which contributed to our being at this point again are once again coming out and positioning themselves as saviours, as messiahs, as the sole possible rescue mission that this nation can even dream of, a nation of nearly 200 million people.

    “I find it very strange, and I find it even stranger because at the beginning of this movement towards ‘rescue mission’, there were one or two organisations that came out under different names and they had people in them whom I considered worth following, worth encouraging, worth encouraging others to study closely and even consider following.

    “The next thing I knew, these movements were being hijacked by the very people who laid the foundation, an ironic word by the way, for the collapse of the democratic edifice.”

    Soyinka said he turned one of the groups down when it approached him.

    He said: “The next thing we know, they are forming coalitions and I was invited by one of the rescue missions to address them and I telephoned them and I asked the question, ‘wait a minute, which one are you? Are you the original people I saw or is there a faction or is there now a fatherly umbrella under which everybody is moving?’

    “And I told them; don’t even come near me, if you’ve signed up on one of those who are the enemies of democracy in this nation.

    “Those who inaugurated so-called constitutional amendment programmes, total charades, to assist them to continue to run, which has been scuttled by the direction known as tenure elongation, third term, etcetera for which the entire national treasury was almost bankrupted.”

    There were claims that Obasanjo attempted to seek a third term following the expiration of his tenure in 2007. The bid hit the rocks when the Ken Nnamani led-Senate threw out the tenure elongation clause during Constitution amendment.

    The Nobel laureate went on: “And suddenly, here they are they are forming coalitions all over the place, once again, confusing people.

    “Who are the genuine leaders, who are those that we can trust?  The answer to that is very simple: look at their track records. That’s all”.

    He advised Nigerians not to allow themselves “to plunge into a zone of amnesia, in which you conveniently forget unpleasant realities.

    “We’ve had presidents in this nation, some of whom inaugurated a never-ending democratic process, which landed us eventually under the most brutal dictators that this nation has ever known.”

    Under Babangida, who was in office between 1985 and 1993, his transition programme was the longest ever in the country’s history. On several occasion, he promised to hand over to a democratically elected government but failed to do so.

    In June 1993, he annulled the presidential election won by the late Bashorun MKO Abiola.

    He was forced to “step aside” in August 1993.

    Babangida handed over to the Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government (ING), which was sacked by the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who tried to perpetuate himself in office before his sudden death.

    Soyinka was not done: “We had others also who actually supervised sacking of ‘democratic government’; I’m speaking of Anambra, I’m speaking of Oyo State. A governor was kidnapped under their watch with their complicity; in another instance, thugs actually entered the House of Assembly, sacked the legislators and installed their own candidates; under the same watch.

    “And they call themselves the God-designated watchmen over the fortunes of this nation? And suddenly, here they are and I see Nigerians flocking to them and asking them once again to lead.

    “Mind you, they’ve said very clearly if it becomes a political party count me out o, but paths are already being beaten to their doors, control by subrogation.

    “Even if they do not individually put themselves back in the position of power, they are already smoothening the way for their surrogates, their stooges, so that they can continue to misrule from their cosy farmsteads. So, all I’m urging is: be very vigilant. Just look closely at their records, look at the company they keep.

    He urged the youth to “grow up” and take political power.

    “Why can’t a new generation actually rise, throw us all out of the window and take control of their own lives by themselves? Why do we keep recycling the same jaded traitors, enemies of the people? Why do you need to go for blessing somewhere if you’ve made up your mind that it is time to take control of your own existence?

    ”Once again, I don’t want to be misunderstood, I know what I think about this government when voting time comes, I know exactly where I’m going to cast my vote but I’m not going to allow anybody to hoodwink me and say I will show you the path. No, this will be adding insult to injury.”

    Falana urged the government to confiscate some assets of those people, including a university, “at the right time.” Obasanjo is known to own the Ota-Ogun State based Bells University. He also owns a farm in Ota.

    The activist lawyer said: “Our country is undergoing serious crises of governance but we must be very careful so that we do not allow those who destroyed the country, those who ruined the nation to pose as the saviour of our people.

    “There’s somebody living very close to this place who has been parading himself as the saviour of our people; this guy ruled the country for 11 ½ years cumulatively – 3 ½ years under the military, eight years under a civilian dispensation. And even wanted to do a third term but Nigerians rejected him. Obasanjo was military head of state between February 1976 and October 1, 1979. He was president from 1999 to 2007.

    Falana added: “The guy is going round the country now, claiming to have solutions to our problems; I wish to say here and we are challenging him to name one thing that he did, any problem of the country that he solved.

    “On the contrary, this guy wasted $16billion to generate darkness for the country. This guy formed and took over the resources of the country blindly under what he called blind trust.

    “Nigeria is the only country in the world where a sitting president and a sitting vice-president established private universities when the government refused to fund public universities and other tertiary institutions.

    “Gani went to court to challenge the extortion of state governments and contractors by a man who realised about N7billion to set up a so-called library” Obasanjo has a presidential library in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    The SAN said: “Under the constitution, any gift received while you are in office, other than customary gifts, is forfeitable to the state; therefore, at the right time, this country, when it is properly organised, will take over all those universities and libraries that were set up with public funds and that may be sooner than you think.”

    Senator Sani (Kaduna Central) said Nigeria was not yet in a true democracy.

    He said: “In fact, our country is sick, the republic is sick; our people are dying, violence, bloodshed, killings, mass murder is becoming the emblem of our democracy today.

    “We are out of PDP misrule but we will be deceiving ourselves to say we are in the Promised Land; we are not in the Promised Land. We must keep vigil,

    “The political ruling elite are not yet prepared to see to a democratic Nigeria. Nigeria’s political reality is about personal interest.

    “Those who destroyed our country in the past are very much present as born-again.”

    He urged Nigerians of integrity to support Buhari because “you can’t build a country because of the integrity of one person. The integrity of one person is not enough to rule and sustain a state. We have a President who is a man of integrity but integrity is not enough for leadership.”

    Oshiomhole, represented by Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba said Obasanjo was not worthy to determine Nigerians’ political destiny.

    Oshiomhole said Obasanjo “acted like a civilian dictator” while in power and prevented Nigerians from protesting an unjustified fuel price increase.

    He urged the Federal Government to emulate Lagos State and honour Fawehinmi.

    “Lagos did a good job to build a befitting statue in Fawehinmi’s honour. The Federal Government should do better,” Oshiomhole said.

    Sowore lamented that Nigerians rejected Fawehinmi for Obasanjo in 1999.

    He said: “I want to say very briefly that Nigeria must be regretting that when they had a chance to choose between Chief Gani Fawehinmi and a Barabbas, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, they decided to choose Obasanjo instead of choosing Gani Fawehinmi and that is why we are regretting today.

     

  • 2019: Obasanjo, Falae, others meet in Abeokuta

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the national chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, on Tuesday meet privately in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, to deliberate on how to form mass coalition political forces capable of wresting power at the centre from President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC).
    Obasanjo who is spearheading the Coalition of Nigerian Movement (CNM) received Falae at his  Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta by noon,
    quickly went into a closed door discussion with his guest.
    Also in attendance are two-time governorship candidate and current aspirant in Ogun state, Gboyega Isiaka, former Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr  Shina Kawonise and  former Special Adviser on Public Communication to ex – President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Doyin Okupe.

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