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Tag: Obasanjo

  • Lar contributed hugely to Nigeria’s democracy – Obasanjo

    Lar contributed hugely to Nigeria’s democracy – Obasanjo

    Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has expressed grief over the death of Chief Solomon Lar, the founding National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party.

    In a statement, which he signed and made available in Abuja on Friday, Obasanjo noted that it was under Lar’s chairmanship of the PDP that he became the president of Nigeria.

    “ The news of the demise of Chief Solomon Lar, the first civilian Governor of Plateau State, member of G18 & G34, the first Chairman under whose chairmanship I won the Presidential election of 1999 is very sad.

    “Chief Solomon Lar was a man whose political career stretched from the military era through the present democratic dispensation.

    “He made significant contributions to the re-establishment of democracy in Nigeria.

    “His place will be very difficult to fill within his community, the state, the party and the nation,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the former president as saying in the statement.

    Obasanjo prayed God to console the Lar family.

     

  • Obasanjo, Ajimobi, others honour Agagu at day of tributes

    Obasanjo, Ajimobi, others honour Agagu at day of tributes

    •’One of our brightest stars has set’

     

    Eminent Nigerians yesterday eulogised former Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu, who died on September 13 at his home in Lagos.

    Many Nigerians described him as “a quintessential politician and a bridge-builder, who lived his life in the service of humanity”.

    They said the late Agagu was a patriot and one of the foremost Yoruba leaders, who played politics without bitterness.

    They spoke at a Day of Tributes organised in honour of the politician at the International Conference Centre of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Oyo State. The event was organised by UI’s Department of Geology and the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS).

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was represented by his wife, Bola, said the late Agagu should be celebrated and not mourned because he lived a fulfilled life.

    Obasanjo said: “I miss an honest adviser, a dependable associate, hardworking colleague, indomitable leader, community lover and a committed worker in the political vineyard, who brought his intellectual ability to bear in my administration.”

    He said though the late Agagu was cheated during his tenure as Ondo governor, he took it in good faith because he was a good man.

    The former president said the deceased had conquered the cheats because he would be cheated no more.

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi said: “A good leader will take his people to where they want to go, but a great leader will take them to where they ought to be; he was indeed a great leader.”

    He said the late Agagu proved that irrespective of their political parties, politicians could work together, if they mean well for the people.

    Ajimobi said: “In life, we envied you. In death, we also envy you, because we are not sure that people with good qualities will celebrate us when we depart. Today is a very solemn day for Oyo people. We have lost a friend, patriot, brother and resident. His decades of living in Ibadan earned him the honour of being one of us, an indigene of Oyo State.

    “From January, 1958, when he moved to Ibadan to live with his cousin, Edward Fagbohun, and schooled at the Ebenezer African Church Primary School, Oke-Ado, where he completed his primary school education in 1960, Agagu’s love for Ibadan was clear and his choice of Oyo State as his home further proved this. It was, no doubt, his love for us that was responsible for his choice in 1961 to attend the Ibadan Grammar School (IGS), where he graduated in 1967.

    “That same preference for Ibadan led him to UI in 1968, where he first opted to study Botany, but later changed to Geology and graduated in 1971. One of our brightest stars has set. Agagu represented the best of us, indeed one of the trail blazers of professionals in the murky waters of politics.

    “At a time when the general conception was that only the worst of us participated in politics, he literally bit the bullet, removed his hallowed academic gown and mounted the rostrum to campaign for the votes of his people. I congratulate Ondo people for having had Agagu administer their state, his wife for having such an uncommon patriot as a husband and his children for the honour to have been born and sired by him.”

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the late Agagu lived a life worthy of emulation and gave himself to the pursuit of a better life for the people.

    Aregbesola said: “Agagu was unassumingly humane. He connected without collision with people. He was unassuming without being cunning; brave without being brash and pleasantly accommodating. Though death holds him down, we will always rejoice that he lived a life worthy of emulation. He shines brilliantly in the minds of eminent Nigerians, who encountered him.”

    He said the late politician supported the Southwest integration agenda and saw it as an opportunity for the region to develop economically.

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi said the late Agagu’s entry into politics changed the impression that only charlatans got involved in governance.

    Fayemi said: “He lit the candle and showed the pathway to some of us. The late Agagu is a man of honour and intellect. He is a true kokumo because he will live forever in our hearts. He never played the politics of bitterness and deceit.”

    Former Ogun State Governor Gbenga Daniel, who spoke on behalf of ex-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors in the Southwest, acknowledged Agagu’s contributions to the region’s growth as a minister and governor.

    He described the late politician as an accomplished academic, politician and a public servant par excellence, whose life was characterised by diligence, humility, commitment, loyalty, patriotism and quiet philanthropy.

    Daniel said: “The late Agagu was a consistent politician, who brought dignity, candour, decorum and loyalty to politicking. We have lost a consummate political gladiator, humanist and complete gentleman.”

    Also at the event were former Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Osun), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Segun Oni (Ekiti).

    Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke was represented by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Christian Ita.

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko was represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Kola Ademujimi. Wives of former governors: Mrs. Kemi Alao-Akala (Oyo), Mrs. Feyisetan Fayose (Ekiti) and Mrs. Mutiat Ladoja (Oyo) were also present.

    They all prayed for the repose of the late Agagu’s soul.

  • What does Obasanjo really want?

    If we go by Nigeria’s political precedents, there is considerable reason to doubt that former President Obasanjo will go against the re-election of President Jonathan if he chooses to contest in 2015. However, two weeks ago, Obasanjo had a private one-on-one discussion with Alhaji Rashidi Ladoja in Ibadan. Shortly after, a split occurred in the PDP at a convention that was not attended by Obasanjo, who is now sponsoring Ladoja as a new secretary for PDP. These two events suggest some linkages.

    If this information is true, it suggests some pre-meditated actions on the part of Obasanjo and strengthens the claims in some quarters that he started the fires that currently engulfs the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and should therefore be responsible for putting it out. But what does Obasanjo really want and how does the current disarray in the party characterize the political ideology that may be ascribed to Obasanjo?

    To begin to answer this question, it must first be pointed out that the travails currently buffeting the political ship of the PDP, under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan is not new. Obasanjo should actually be the last person to start or stoke such a fire because just before his re-election in 2003, many swore that he would never be allowed to run for re-election.

    To support the resistance to Obasanjo’s re-election bid in 2003, the then Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, now Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF) brought in to replace the late Chuba Okadigbo as Senate President stated that the PDP zoning scheme did not call for a second term for the President. This was a reinforcement of an earlier report credited to Chief Sonny Okogwu, where the latter contended that there was a deal after Obasanjo’s nomination in Jos in 1999, in which he was supposed to be a one-term president. Compare this with the recent claims by Governor Aliyu of Niger state.

    Moreover, the robust resistance of the so called G-5 governors to Goodluck Jonathan today can also be compared to the antagonism of some governors like Achike Udenwa of Imo State to Obasanjo’s re-election. In the same way, Governor Bafarawa, then governor of Sokoto State, speaking on behalf of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) stated that the north would not back Obasanjo for re-election. Similarly, Governor Orji Kalu swore that Obasanjo would never be allowed to go for re-election at the expense of a candidate from the South-east. All these occurred before the presidential nomination of the PDP in 2003.

    So, the resistance to President Jonathan is almost conventional within the PDP, except that it has now been calibrated with higher intensity, leading to a split in the party, led by Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, a veteran of several failed presidential bids. But what may come as a shock to many is the role of former President Obasanjo in the whole affair.

    At some point, he is seen dissociating himself from the activities of the present government, and aligning with perceived competitors of the president for the presidential nomination of the party. In several instances, he has made scurrilous remarks on the performance of the party in government, whereas it is well known that if he intended to convey such as advice to government, he could easily do so, through a phone call or through private discussions. At other times, he is forecasting an imminent of ‘’Arab spring’’ in Nigeria due to high levels of unemployment arising from job opportunities that he could not provide while he was in office.

    It is difficult to understand what Obasanjo really wants from Jonathan. It has been pointed out that the current SGF Pius Anyim, came to national political relevance when Obasanjo ousted the late Okadigbo the then senate president for criticisms that were less caustic than Obasanjo is currently dishing out to President Jonathan. So, it may be safe to hazard a guess that Anyim’s appointment may have been partly to appease Obasanjo. Many would even assert that the South-west appears not to have much representation in the federal cabinet because of the type of nominations made by Obasanjo. With the exception of the Agriculture Minister Akinwunmi Adesina who has performed exceedingly well, other ministers from that zone have been mostly below par in performance.

    During his first term, Obasanjo never brooked any dissent, nor heeded any advice from any quarters. He it was who relegated some of the principal founders of the party and their political structures to the sidelines. When he became president, he immediately unseated the party executive and brought in Barnabas Gemade and Okwesilieze Nwodo as chairman and secretary of the party respectively. Today he is prodding Jonathan to shred his own trusted structure and install one that will do his bidding. While it appears as if the G-5 is representing the north, some prominent politicians in the north who understand what Obasanjo can do if the party structures are under his control are uncomfortable and suspicious of his motivations as he prods the G-5 into splitting the PDP.

    For instance, Ango Abdullahi a well-known critic of Jonathan, his bitterness being merely over the claim that the North should exclusively produce a presidential candidate instead of President Jonathan, has this to say about former President Obasanjo; “….we thought erroneously, that his government’s performance between 1976 and 1979 was his own. But as it turned out to be, we could see that it wasn’t his……how would Nigerians rank Obasanjo from 1999 to when he left office as president? Every record shows that there has never been as much corruption in this country as during that period…” President Goodluck Jonathan may only just be finding out that Ango Abdullahi and he, may just have something they agree on: that Obasanjo cannot be trusted politically.

    Can this explain why very few people of note in the South-west ever agree with Obasanjo? Can it also explain the discord within his PDP followers in his home state of Ogun, which led to the political defeat of the party in the last general election in most local elections? Nonetheless, those who are currently being used by Obasanjo to stoke the embers of discord in the PDP may not know this yet. But, it is still early and there is still enough time for rapprochement or they may find themselves in political limbo, after Obasanjo gets what he wants, like others who have been previously used for this type of agenda.

    • Eneoche, a Development Analyst writes from Abuja

  • Obasanjo attacks Atiku

    Obasanjo attacks Atiku

    Ex-president accuses his deputy of corruption

    Aide: Atiku will reply

    Waziri denies Ibori link

     

    AFTER a long break, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, seem set to renew their hostilities.

    Obasanjo is insinuating that ex-Vice President Atiku is corrupt, saying he was investigated by his administration following alert from the United States.

    He said Nigerians should ask Atiku why he has not visited the United States since he left office, if he has no case to answer.

    Obasanjo, who bared his mind on why he moved against his deputy in an interview with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) magazine, Zero Tolerance, said he could not understand why the anti-graft commission has not taken Atiku to court.

    He said he did not at any time instigate former EFCC Chairman Nuhu Ribadu against Atiku.

    Obasanjo said: “Ask Ribadu, if I ever say to him, ‘go do this’.

    “No; that is not true. We got a letter from America in June 2006, listing a number of people to be investigated; Atiku was one of them and that letter went straight to the EFCC.

    “It was just shown to me because they will not be able to investigate my number two without my saying ‘ok’. So, I said if we got this letter from America, so be it.

    “If we have agreement with FBI, Metropolitan Police and they are helping us and we are helping them and they write to us and say these are the people we want you to help us investigate, what do you think we should do? You as EFCC, what will you do, coincidence or no coincidence?”

    He said Atiku had refused to travel to the United States since he left office because of alleged corruption.

    He went on: “Well, I don’t know what the EFCC has found out about him, but I don’t know if he can go to America. Do you know? I am asking you, do you know?

    “He travels? Travels to where? To Dubai? Let him go to America and return to Nigeria.

    “Well, I don’t know what the EFCC has found out about him, but I don’t know if he can go to America. Do you know? I am asking you, do you know?”

    But Atiku could not be reached last night for his reaction. He was away in China.

    His Media Adviser, Mallam Garba Shehu, said: “Turaki (Atiku) is in China and the time difference is about eight hours. There is no way I could reach him. You can run your story, we will react later. Turaki will wish to personally react,” he said.

    The ex-President insisted that Ribadu was not his attack dog.

    “He is an attack dog to those people who have run foul of the law, people like (former Vice President) Atiku! He is an attack dog to take down Tafa Balogun, my own Inspector General of Police? Is that what you call attack dog?”

    He denied influencing a report of the EFCC which led to the exclusion of some politicians from the 2007 election.

    Obasanjo said: “No, no. Yes!. He brought a report to me and said these people are corrupt; how can I in my position receive a report that says these people are corrupt, and then I say ‘extol him as a governor’. Is that the type of leader you want me to be? I will not be that. So he brought a report; I didn’t ask him to carry out an investigation; he even came out and said he had found 28 governors as corrupt.

    He said EFCC under Ribadu investigated him while in office to prove that nobody should be below board in the fight against corruption.

    He said: “I was investigated. I told the EFCC to investigate me. I told EFCC to carry out a clinical investigation and they did it. They also did same with all the people on my farm. One of them was telling me the other day how Lamorde called him three times and took statements from him.

    “The EFCC even made sure that they did not submit that report to me; they waited until I left and updated their report after going round the world and saying ‘look; this is the report’. Nobody should be below board in the fight against corruption.”

    Obasanjo, however, became angry when he was asked why EFCC never moved against a former Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Chief Olabode George, until when the latter fell out of favour with him.

    He added: “No, no, no; don’t say a thing like that; that is a stupid statement. I take very strong exception to that and if you are from EFCC and you say that, I think you should be removed and I mean it.

    “Ribadu brought a report and a blanket report to us and we said, ‘look, if there is something wrong with NPA, you don’t crucify 50 people, go and get the leaders’ and, eventually, he got the leaders and the leaders happen to be the chairman, the Chief Executive who is from Kano and they were charged and they went to jail. And it is in the same report of Ribadu; now, if Ribadu is no longer there and you want to run him down, it should not be from you and I will not run him down.”

    “I will say where I think Ribadu has gone wrong but where he is right, and he lifted that organisation, it should be acknowledged.

    “He did very well until he lost his direction when he left. He did so well that he became a threat even to the incoming administration; that is what happened. He was so successful that his success began to be a problem for him.”

    Although Obasanjo avoided rating Ribadu, he faulted the appointment of his successor, Mrs. Farida Waziri as the chairman of EFCC.

    He alleged that Mrs. Waziri, was head-hunted by ex-Governor James Ibori and should not have been given the appointment. Mrs. Waziri defended this several time, says it was false.

    He added: “I don’t know how to score him. I know that the woman they brought to replace Ribadu (Farida Waziri) was not the right person for that job, because I understood that one of those who head-hunted her was James Ibori. If James Ibori, who is now in a United Kingdom (UK) prison for fraud, head-hunted somebody who will fight corruption in Nigeria, then you can understand what happened.

    “ Well, go and look at her track record, go and look at the condition or the qualification, go and look at the type of interaction that anybody holding that job will have with a similar organisation elsewhere; did Waziri have that type? What connection did she have with FBI; what relationship did she have with Metropolitan Police in London; what did she know. It is not a picnic! While Ribadu was doing it, he was doing it with all his ability and I believe he did it well.”

    He said he would reappoint Ribadu if he has the opportunity.

    “Yes, I will reappoint Mallam Ribadu and I will not dismiss him the way he was dismissed from EFCC and one thing I will tell him, I will advise him not to go and hobnob with people he had declared as corrupt. Hobnobbing with such people does not do much credit to his image.”

    Responding to a question, Obasanjo explained why he had been critical of the Federal Government’s fight against corruption.

    He said political will is required to fight corruption in Nigeria.

    But when asked whether the nation still has the political will, the ex-President simply responded: “Go and ask your president, not me.

    “Political will is the courage, ability, the audacity to do what is right and most of what is right will not be pleasant.”

    He added: “I feel concerned about Nigeria and I will never stop feeling concerned and that is why occasionally I speak up.

    “Even now, I am speaking up to say that all of you in EFCC, there are areas you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you take an organisation which took Nigeria from level 2 to level 43 and then it start coming down to level 34 then something is wrong. You don’t come and blame that on me; you don’t come and ask me that.”

     

  • Southwest PDP: Obasanjo alone can’t fill zonal position

    Southwest PDP: Obasanjo alone can’t fill zonal position

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Southwest has faulted reports that the Office of the National Secretary and other offices meant for the Southwest will be conceded to former President Olusegun Obasanjo as part of the ongoing reconciliation efforts.

    The leadership of the party, consisting of the Zonal Caretaker Committee, the State Chairmen Forum, the Elders Committee, the Stakeholders Forum, the Organisation and Mobilisation Committee, the Women and Youth fora, said: “No one individual or group, no matter how powerful, can singlehandedly fill positions allotted to the Southwest zone. We are opposed to anything short of a free, fair and democratic congress where delegates would elect their leaders as ordered by the court in Suit No FHC/L/CS/347/2012.”

    In a statement yesterday by the Acting Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Southwest PDP,Adedeji Doherty, the party noted that it was the irregularities of the past that necessitated the sack of the erstwhile Zonal Executive Committee, was headed by ousted Ekiti State Governor Segun Oni – and the removal of the former National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola by the court.

    The party said any attempt to fill the vacant position of the National Secretary, except as prescribed by the court, would be tantamount to another illegality.

    “It would be recalled that a Court Order/Judgment was given in the matter between Chief Adebayo Dayo and others Vs Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Peoples Democratic Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/504/2012 whereby Oyinlola,our representative from Osun State, was relieved of his duties.

    “In the same Order/Judgment, the court also directed that the zone should conduct a Congress to nominate a replacement to the above position.

    “The court says inter alia ‘that an order is hereby granted directing the third defendant (INEC) to rectify the records of the second defendant (PDP) by deleting the name of the 1st defendant (Oyinlola) and replacing same in accordance with the provision of the Constitution of the first defendant with a candidate nominated at a valid congress of the Southwest zone chapter of the 1st defendant (PDP).’

    “In obedience to the Orders and Judgment of the Court, the Caretaker Committee under the supervision of the former Chairman, Chief Ishola Filani on Saturday, July 13, 2013 conducted a Special Congress where Prof. Wale Oladipo (Osun State) was nominated as Oyinlola’s replacement.

    “We have since filed the returns to the court and the National Secretariat. All that is remaining is for the court to decide the matter, one way or the other, and the national leadership of our great party will act accordingly,” Doherty said.

    He said any deviation from the path set by the law would be counter-productive and throw up another round of crisis instead of resolving it.

     

  • Jonathan, Obasanjo: Torn apart by 2015 calculations

    Jonathan, Obasanjo: Torn apart by 2015 calculations

    President Goodluck Jonathan and his benefactor and godfather, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, are now working at cross-purpose in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The President is perceived to be nursing a second term ambition. But the former President has his eyes on another candidate. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU writes on the antagonistic permutations of the two leaders, ahead of the 2015 elections.

     

     

    Before Dr. Goodluck Jonathan became the VicePresident in 2007, the relationship between him and former President Olusegun Obasanjo was like a father-son relationship. But the former President is now fighting the President by proxy.

    Obasanjo greatly admired the Ijaw technocrat and politician, who was a loyal deputy governor under former Bayelsa State Governor Diepreye Alamieye-seigha. The fondness was attributed to the fact that Jonathan neither undermined nor subverted his boss, until the governor was shoved aside, following the his face-off with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The relationship was cordial when Dr. Jonathan, in quick succession, became the Vice President, Acting President and President, following the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua.

    When the President contested for the highest office in 2011, Obasanjo was also a pillar of support for his administration. He mobilised support for him to defeat former Vice President Atiku Abubakar at the PDP primaries and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential election.

    The relationship has now turned sour. The President and the former President are divided by 2015 calculations. President Jonathan is perceived to be nursing a second term in office. But Obasanjo is looking at another direction. At critical moments, when the former President was expected to stand behind the President like the wall of Gibraltar, he was found in the company of those opposed to the President’s ambition. As the pro-Jonathan forces continue to push for his re-nomination, Obasanjo is propping up another aspirant to challenge him to a duel.

    The turn of events is worrisome to some admirers of Obasanjo in Jonathan’s camp. Efforts to broker reconciliation between the two leaders have failed. Although President Jonathan had visited Obasanjo in his Abeokuta, Ogun State residence, it has not led to a truce. The former President has also visited Dr. Jonathan in Aso Rock. But the visits have not endangered mutual confidence.

    Since 1999, when he assumed the reins as the President, Obasanjo has been playing the role of a godfather in the ruling PDP. As the PDP National Leader, the General decided who got what and how in the party for eight years. He brooked no opposition and his word was law.

    After completing his second term in office, Obasanjo reflected on the burning issue of succession. As a former military leader and civilian Head of State, he was not indifferent to the nature, tendency and sentiment of his successor. Thus, in 2007, he threw up former Katsina State Governor Yar’Adua as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag bearer. But another issue that came up at the convention of the party was the choice of the running mate. The former President, who had a running battle with his deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, wanted a cool-headed politician as the vice presidential candidate. After careful consideration, he picked former Bayelsa State Governor Jonathan for the role.

    After two and half years, President Yar’adua died. During his long absence, a cabal initially prevented Jonathan from stepping in as the Acting President. Obasanjo was among the eminent Nigerians who insisted that the 1999 Constitution should be followed in resolving the logjam. The former President even said that his successor should have thrown in the towel, owing to his incapacitation. When Yar’Adua died, the same forces were at work, until the ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ was invoked to pave the way for Jonathan’s emergence as the President. In those trying period, Obasanjo stood with the President.

    The relationship between Jonathan and Obasanjo was cordial, until his resignation as the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman. It was believed that Obasanjo displaced another party elder, Chief Tony Anenih. A source said that the former President was dazed by Jonathan’s reaction. Instead of prevailing on the former President not to abdicate from the powerful and influential party structure, Jonathan simply welcomed the resignation and wished him the best in his future endeavours.

    From that moment, the source said, Obasanjo started to review his relationship with the President. But open confrontation was avoided. The resumption of hostilities came, following the removal of Obasanjo’s men from the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. The sack affected the National Secretary, Gen. Olagunsoye Oyinlola, National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Mr. Segun Oni, and National Auditor, Gbenga Mustapha. They were national officers from the Southwest Zone.

    Gen. Oyinlola had a ruptured relationship with the PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. When crisis broke out between the Chairman and Secretary, Tukur’s Chief of Staff, Abu Fari, was shown the way out. The former Osun State governor alleged that Fari had hijacked his duties and preventing access to the chairman. But the heat was later turned on Oyinlola, following persistent pressures from party chieftains from his home state and other Southwest states for his removal. They complained that he did not properly emerge as the secretary. But Oyinlola’s election was not voided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which voided the election of other 16 national officers. When Tukur refused to reinstate him, Obasanjo’s camp took up the battle, claiming that it was an orchestrated plan to reduce the former President’s influence by eliminating his supporters from the organs of the party.

    Obasanjo has other grudges. He had taken side in the war of attrition rocking the Ogun PDP chapter. In hot competition for the soul of the party in the Gateway State were the Senator Dipo Odujinrin and Adebayo Dayo factions. Obasanjo supported the former. Following the collapse of reconciliation, the two parties went to the court. The temple of justice affirmed Dayo, an engineer, as the authentic chairman. Thus, the hands if the National Working Committee (NWC) were tied. Tukur had no option than to give recognition to the State Executive Committee headed by Dayo. The implication was that the control of the Ogun PDP slipped away from Obasanjo. It was a victory for his foes in the troubled chapter, who are financed by the billionaire businessman, Kashamu Buruji.

    The former President is not a coward who will run away from battles. He gathered his army and fired salvos at the President. As the relationship between Obasanjo and Jonathan deteriorated, relations between the embattled President and Nigerians who voted en mass for him over two years ago had strained. Their hope was raised by the transformation agenda. But, two years after, soaring unemployment, collapsed infrastructure, power outage, and poverty have created a deep hollow in the administration’s record. Gradually, the President begun to lose the goodwill and solidarity of the voters, owing to their inability to marry expectation with reality. Thus, Obasanjo secured a vantage position to attack the inept government, berating it for shortfall in focus and capacity.

    In fact, the former President wrote off the younger generation, which is exemplified Dr. Jonathan. Delivering a lecture at Ibadan, Oyo State, he said the generation has failed the nation, unlike his own generation, which he said, erected lasting legacies.

    Observers contend that the missiles at Ibadan were reserved by Obasanjo, who had earlier passed a vote of no confidence on the President when he shunned this year’s ‘Democracy Day’ at Abuja. Obasanjo was said to have been invited to the occasion where President Jonathan released his mid-term score card. He declined the invitation. Instead, the former President went to Dutse, capital of Jigawa State, on the invitation of Governor Sule Lamido. After commissioning some projects by the governor, Obasanjo praised him to high heavens. The extraordinary encomium was perceived as an endorsement of Lamido for the Presidency in 2015 by Obasanjo.

    Also, to underscore his disapproval of the party’s recent special convention at the Eagles Squares, Abuja, Obasanjo stayed away, to the consternation of the President. Mid way into the convention, seven governors walked out on the President and Tukur, citing irregularities in the conduct of the exercise. Among them are the five aggrieved governors, who are loyal to Obasanjo. They repudiated the convention and demanded for Tukur’s resignation from office.

    Obasanjo was instrumental to the installation of the ‘G5″ members as governors. He had directed Admiral Muritala Nyako to vie for the Adamawa State governorship in 2007 to checkmate Atiku. When Kano State Governor Musa Kwakwanso was dislodged by Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), the former President appointed him as the Defence Minister. Niger State Governor Babangida Aliyu was a Federal Permanent Secretary before his election. In 2007, Obasanjo advised Aliyu Wamakko to defect from the ANPP to become the governor of Sokoto State under the PDP. Kano State Governor Lamido was Obasanjo’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs. All of them have remained loyal to the former President. In fact, before they announced a parallel executive, they had visited Obasanjo to complain to him about the way Jonathan and Tukur have been managing the party. Their visit to Obasanjo in Abeokuta coincided with the President’s visit. But, following a tip off, they dodged the President.

    When the ‘G5’ teamed up with other aggrieved PDP chieftains to form a faction led by the former Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, many believed that Obasanjo was not kept in the dark. A source said that was responsible for why Jonathan’s camp was weary of Obasanjo’s reconciliation initiative, following the split in the crisis-ridden party. Since they believe that the Ota farmer is not neutral in the crisis, the President’s associates feared that Obasanjo, who is unpredictable and cunning, had come up with his antics to pull the rug off the feet of his perceived enemy.

    Party insiders said that, ini-

    tially, the President wanted to

    keep Obasanjo at arm length. But key chieftains loyal to him stressed the importance of reconciliation to prevent the escalation of the crisis. But when the President’s disposition to the Obasanjo effort was unraveled, many party elders shunned the reconciliation meeting at Abuja. It was evident that the elders have been polarised by the protracted crisis into pro-Jonathan and anti-Jonathan forces. Apart from Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and Col. Ahmadu Ali, who had worked under him as the military Head of State, other notable elders at the venue were Senator Barnabas Gemade and Anenih, who was the link between the reconciliation meeting and Presidency. However, key elders, including former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, Chief Solomon Lar, Mrs. Titi Ajanaku, Prof. Jibril Aminu, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, General Yakubu Danjuma, Chief S.K. Babalola, former Anambra State Governor Jim Nwobodo, Alhaji Mohammed Abba-Gana, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, Chief Tunde Osunrinde, Senator Ahmed Ebute, former Information Minister Chief Edwin Clark, Commodore Bode George, Chief Peter Odili, Senator Olofintuyi, Chief Shuaib Oyedokun, Gen. David Jemibewon, Senator Olu Alabi, Chief Alaba Williams, Alabo Ghram Douglas, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Chief Dapo Sarunmi, Dr. Umaru Dikko, and Senator Yinka Omilani, were absent.

    Jonathan’s camp faces a big hurdle, ahead of 2015. Ebullient and fork-tongued Governor Aliyu had canvassed for power shift to the North, claiming that the President had a pact with some Northern leaders on presidential zoning in 2011. He said the inexplicable pact should be honoured. When Obasanjo visited Jigawa and showered encomium on Lamido, it was interpreted as a subtle endorsement for power shift.

    Sources said that the President’s associates were infuriated by the recommendations of the elders’ committee-led by Obasanjo. The proposals favoured the ‘G5’, which is Obasanjo’s machinery, and other chieftains, who are united in their bitterness against the President and Tukur, his dependable ally. The President, the source added, may reject the proposals.

    Under this prevailing atmosphere of mistrust and mutual suspicion between the President and his erstwhile benefactor, the perceived hidden agenda of Obasanjo may unfold. But the former President also faces some challenges in his perceived bid to edge out Jonathan from the exalted office.

    Obviously, Obasanjo is not happy with President Jonathan. But, judging by his outburst at Ibadan, it is doubtful that the former President will endorse Atiku for the Presidency in 2015, although the former Vice President appears to be the arrowhead of the onslaught against the President and Tukur. There is no proof that the former leader will combine forces with Buhari, a likely presidential aspirant in the All Progressives Congress (APC). It may be suicidal. Also, the newly registered Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), which is believed to be fronting for the former Vice President, is ruled out in Obasanjo’s calculations. If he eventually settles for Lamido, Aliyu or any other candidate for the Presidency, will he have the last laugh?

     

  • PDP Crises: IBB, Ahmadu Ali in secret meeting at Presidential Villa

    To resolve the crises in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some elders of the party including former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida and former PDP Chairman, Ahmadu Ali yesterday met secretly with President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa.
    The party broke up on August 31st when former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and seven state governors left the Mini Convention of the party to form the ‘New PDP’
    It could not be confirmed yesterday whether former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who had been involved in the past mediating meetings, was at the meeting held at House 7 in the State House yesterday afternoon.
    Journalists were not allowed to get close to the venue of the meeting which lasted for about one hour. There was no press briefing or statement issued at the end.
    The meeting, according to a reliable source who does not want his name in prints, was a preparatory meeting towards the scheduled meeting in the night with the aggrieved members.
    Even as it was not clear if any governor attended the meeting yesterday afternoon, some state governors were spotted at the Presidential villa before the meeting including the Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum, Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) and Gabriel Suswam (Benue).
  • Is Obasanjo the puppeteer?

    Is Obasanjo the puppeteer?

    Whose who have stepped on his toes either by omission or commission have sad tales to tell.

    For former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, literally making a mincemeat of his real or perceived political foes has allegedly become a pastime of sort. The retired Army General, according to his critics, is imbued with a persona that hides his capacity to get even with his political opponents at any time.

    A former governor of a South-West state can not easily forget the Owu-born general. Having fallen out with Obasanjo over some undisclosed reasons, the former president had allegedly told close aides that he will ensure the governor ends up in jail at the end of his first term in office.

    Desperate to secure a second term, the governor reportedly mobilised some traditional rulers in his state to plead with Obasanjo on his behalf. As soon as the guests were ushered into Obasanjo’s office, the governor allegedly went on all fours, asking the then president to forgive his transgressions while assuring him of his unalloyed loyalty from that moment on.

    Almost close to tears, the governor was quoted as telling Obasanjo, “Sir, I know you don’t easily forgive those who offend you but please in the name of God, forgive me.” Obasanjo’s response was straight to the point. “If you know I don’t forgive, why did you offend me in the first place?”

    The governor was lucky after all. The intervention of the paramount traditional ruler of his state got him a reprieve. He was forgiven and went ahead to win a re-election.

    Those who know the general intimately will most likely say the above scenario is an exception and not a rule for Obasanjo, the man many Nigerian politicians and elites love to hate.

    His speculated frosty relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan and his alleged role in the crisis currently ravaging the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again brought to the fore the complex personality of a man who has had the enviable reputation and yet unequalled feat of ruling his country in both civilian and military dispensations.

    Long before the PDP crisis climaxed with the formation of a splinter group two weeks ago, loyalists of Jonathan, according to sources, saw clearly Obasanjo’s imprints in the whole saga.

    Sometime last year, the former president resigned his chairmanship of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT), on the excuse that he needed to devote more time to his international engagements. His decision, analysts said, was the first sign that all was not well between him and Jonathan. Strident denials by Presidency officials failed to douse this speculation.

    Then came the unceremonious removal of Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Olusegun Oni and Bode Mustapha as the PDP National Secretary, National Vice Chairman and National Auditor respectively. What more, the national headquarters of the party sacked the State Executive Council of the party believed to be loyal to Obasanjo, replacing it with a new executive council backed by a chieftain of the party, Prince Buruji Kashamu.

    It was akin to drawing the battle line. But Obasanjo decided to stay away from all party activities and official events at the Presidential Villa to which he was duly invited.

    Except for his occasional verbal jabs reportedly directed at the Jonathan Presidency, the former president refrained from speaking specifically on his alleged feud with the president.

    The opportunity to get even with Jonathan came following the crisis that erupted in the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, which has pitched the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, against forces backed by the Presidency.

    Five northern governors, Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto) and Babangida Aliyu (Niger), moved in to save their colleague (Amaechi) who had been suspended from the party.

    These governors with their Kwara State counterpart, Abdulfatah Ahmed, are now the arrowheads of the new PDP. They also have an ally in former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

    Sources say the former president, who has lately taken up the role of a peace maker, and the five ‘rebel’ northern governors have been fingered in a security report as the brains behind the formation of the ‘ New PDP’ and the crisis tearing the party apart.

    The Nation gathered from a national officer of the party that Atiku Abubakar, also an antagonist of the Jonathan government, was co-opted into the plot by the aggrieved governors in order to give the new group a wider reach and acceptability.

    Those linking the former president to the crisis are quick to refer to his close ties with the ‘rebel’ governors. Obasanjo is allegedly instrumental to the political success of the five men.

    Kwankwaso served as the Minister of Defense under Obasanjo after he failed in his re-election bid in 2003. Ditto Sule Lamido, who was appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1999 by Obasanjo serving for about four years before he was dropped. The former president also allegedly played a major role in the election of Lamido as governor in 2007. He succeeded Taminu Turaki, a member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

    The Niger State helmsman, Babangida Aliyu, also owe his rising political career to Obasanjo. A retired federal permanent secretary, Aliyu’s lifelong ambition was to become the Head of Service of the Federation. But Obasanjo, it was, who allegedly insisted on Aliyu succeeding ex-Governor Abdulkadir Kure in 2007.

    Wamakko’s and Nyako’s cases are also similar. Both former members of the defunct ANPP, sources say the former president facilitated the movement of the two governors to PDP and their subsequent election as governors in 2007.

    The PDP governorship ticket for Sokoto State in 2007 was initially won by Mukhtar Shagari, who served as Minister for Water Resources under Obasanjo. He was allegedly asked by the then president to step down for Wamakko and was picked as the latter’s running mate. He is still Wamakko’s deputy till date.

    PDP many crises and OBJ’s role

    The ruling party has been faced with countless internal crises since its formation in 1998, mostly bordering on its leadership. And either by deliberate design or fortuitous circumstances, Obasanjo’s name has been linked to them.

    From Obasanjo’s alleged roles in the elections and unceremonious removal of PDP National Chairmen from Solomon Lar (who in 2004 set up a parallel PDP secretariat), Audu Ogbeh, Barnabas Gemade and Ahmadu Ali, analysts say it is not out of place to state that the PDP’s destiny seems to be to the whims and caprices of the former president.

    Though Obasanjo on his part hardly makes any effort to deny or acknowledge allegations linking him to such crises, his silence may have contributed in making it difficult to deconstruct his roles in these lingering PDP crises. In the current matter, it remains doubtful, given the history of their political association since after their re-election as President and Vice-President respectively, if Obasanjo and Atiku can sit down together to plot the current split?

    More than this puzzle, the big question remains, who bites the dust in this current ‘war’ between Obasanjo and Jonathan? Interesting times, no doubt, lie ahead in the next few weeks and months.

  • Ex- PDP member blames Obasanjo,Tukur for party crises

    …  Flay Anenih, Clark 

    A founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Abu King Shuluwa, on Wednesday said former president Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur should be blamed for the crises rocking the party.

    He also faulted roles played by the Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees; Chief Tony Anenih and a prominent Ijaw leader; Chief Edwin Clark in the current hostility within the party.

    Addressing journalists in his Makurdi residence, Shuluwa, an associate of the late Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and former vice president Atiku Abubakar, said the quartet took advantage of President Goodluck Jonathan’s perceived weakness to mislead the party and pursued their personal agenda.

    “Don’t forget that Anenih is the chief financier of the People Democratic Movement and don’t that he wants it to be registered as a party. The entire governors fighting the president are loyalists of ex – president Obasanjo while Clark is drumming ethic war.

    “Tukur is running the party like a private property, bringing crises for the President.

    “President Jonathan does not know the power play currently going, he is innocent and they are making him to look confused,” Shuluwa stated.

     

  • Obasanjo urges RMAFC to ensure equitable revenue sharing

    Obasanjo urges RMAFC to ensure equitable revenue sharing

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday in Abeokuta stressed the need for a fair and equitable revenue sharing formula.

    He spoke when members of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) visited him ahead of the proposed review of the revenue sharing formula.

    Chief Obasanjo said the sharing of revenue among the three tiers of the government must be proportionate to their responsibilities.

    He said items on the exclusive and concurrent lists in the constitution must be quantified to determine how the nation’s resources should be allocated.

    “We must determine how much security, education or health cost and then determine how much should be allocated to each,” he said.

    Obasanjo noted that such quantification could be a difficult exercise, but emphasised that it was necessary to avoid a lopsided or a disproportionate revenue sharing formula.

    He said such technical exercise might require the services of experts and advised that consultants could be engaged for the purpose.

    The ex-president also stressed the need for the commission not to jettison the fund mobilisation aspect of its responsibility.

    He said it was sad that adequate attention had not been paid to fund mobilisation.

    “I always want to emphasis the nomenclature of your commission and stress that mobilisation comes before allocation,” he added.

    “Please note that it is very important that you do not only concentrate on revenue allocation, but you must also seek to find out what the local governments, states and the Federal Government are doing to mobilise revenue.”

    On the issue of local government autonomy, Obasanjo recalled that councils were first allocated funds directly from the centre in 1976 when he was a military head of state.

    He said the decision was neither a mistake nor by accident, stressing that that level of government was meant to operate as “governments” in the real sense of the word since councils are the closest to the people.

    Chief Obasanjo noted that through the local government reforms of 1976, criteria such as population, space and contiguity were considered for the creation of local governments.

    He, however, expressed concern that subsequent military governments played down on such important factors in the creation of local governments.

    The Chairman of the commission, Mr. Elias Mbam, who spoke earlier, said the members were in Abeokuta to consult with Obasanjo ahead of the review of the existing revenue sharing formula.

    “We feel that we need to consult with you on such a sensitive national issue to tap from your wealth of experience.

    “We have been meeting other national leaders and stakeholders across the nation so that the commission can come up with an acceptable formula,” he said.

    According to him, the commission would soon start zonal public hearings on the issue.