Former President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday drew flak from across the country following his accusation of the Tinubu and Buhari administrations of corruption.
Obasanjo in his latest book ‘Nigeria: Past and Future’, claims Buhari’s government oversaw “the most atrocious waste” and that “corruption was at its peak” during his tenure.
The Tinubu government, according to him, appears to be following the same path of misgovernance and corruption and may surpass Buhari’s record.
Reacting to the accusation yesterday, a prominent citizen from Adamawa State, Senator Abubakar Girei, said the former President lacks the credentials to brand anyone or government corrupt in view of the level of fraud that characterised his own government.
Former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Anthony Sani, said it is in Obasanjo’s character to run down every one who has ruled Nigeria except himself.
National President, Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr Ifeanyi Odili, said Obasanjo could not have been serious with his claims, and recalled that the Halliburton scandal happened during his own tenure as president, while the Osun State Chairman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Hon Adewale Adebayo said Nigeria recorded the worst election in its history under Obasanjo.
Girei who represented Adamawa Central Senatorial District between 1999 and 2003 when Obasanjo served his first term as president, told The Nation Friday night that he worked with Obasanjo and knew some of his corrupt tendencies first hand.
Girei said he was an eye witness to how Obasanjo forced the late Evans Enwerem on the Senate as president and how the senators fought back by impeaching his choice and bringing in the late Chuba Okadigbo.
“Obasanjo is the least qualified of all past presidents to accuse Buhari or anyone of corruption,” Girei said.
He challenged the former president to tell Nigerians what exactly he did with the N16 billion that his regime claimed to have spent on electricity supply that never was.
“Buhari might have had some people around him who might not have been so upright, but till today, Buhari remains a man of integrity,” Girei said.
On Obasanjo’s claims that the Tinubu administration is tending toward corruption, Girei said he did not understand what he meant by that and stressed that whatever money the Tinubu administration may have committed to any project is nothing compared to the huge sums that Obasanjo spent on projects that yielded little dividends.
He said Obasanjo, who did eight years as president and could hardly show any results, should leave Tinubu alone to continue to concentrate on the job for which he was elected.
Girei further advised Obasanjo to stop seeing himself as a sort of god who knows everything and got everything right as president.
Provide basis for your allegations, Sani tells Obasanjo
Sani said the former President is notorious for finding fault with everyone who has ruled Nigeria except himself.
“When former President Obasanjo alleges that corruption under President Buhari was worse, and that under President Bola Tinubu is also worse than their predecessors, many Nigerians would expect the former President to back up his claims with evidence through some trend analyses,” he said.
“This is because a former president is not expected to make such allegations with a sleight of hand.
“What is more, I do not remember a regime in the history of Nigeria which the former President applauded except his own regime. That is why most Nigerians would expect him to make public the basis of his allegations.
“Yes, many Nigerians believe the N15 trillion for the Lagos-Calabar coastal road is too high precisely because of competing demands on the limited resources. It would therefore be helpful if the former president can provide more information as to why he believes the project is utterly wasteful.”
Odili to Obasanjo: Halliburton happened under your nose
Odili said the Halliburton scandal, one of the worst in Nigeria’s history, happened under the nose of Obasanjo and wondered why the former President thinks he is a saint.
He said: “I don’t believe that Buhari’s administration is the most corrupt government in Nigeria so far. What about Obasanjo’s government? Can he claim he was a saint throughout his government?
“What about Halliburton? Did it not happen under his administration? What can he point to under Buhari that is a serious corruption case that is so obvious like the Halliburton case? I don’t think we have any such corruption case under Buhari.
“To me corruption was more prevalent in Obasanjo’s government than Buhari.
“The Campaign for Democracy of which I am President, we have written him once to leave Nigerian politics. He should stop imposing people. He is old enough to retire.
“He is so restless. He just wants to be heard all the time. He wants to control the presidency, he wants to control everybody. He cannot continue like that. He should go and rest.”
Halliburton, one of world’s largest providers of products, services and integrated solutions for oil and gas exploration, development and production, paid bribes to high-ranking Nigerian government officials between 1994 and 2004.
The controversy generated by the bribery scandals forced the American company to reach a deal with the US Department of Justice to pay $382 million to settle the bribery case.
Some individuals were prosecuted and sentenced while others made plea bargains with the American authorities.
Obasanjo government conducted Nigeria’s worst election, says Adebayo
Adebayo, a former Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said apart from conducting the worst election in Nigeria’s history, the Obasanjo government was also neck-deep in “greed, corruption, witch-hunting and most tragic to us, his administration killed Bola Ige, our own.”
He added: “There is nothing like patriotism in him but individualism. That kind of person should not come out to condemn any leader but bury his head in shame.”
Adebayo said the Lagos-Calabar Highway which Obasanjo sought to belittle is a game changer for Nigeria and “the best that will connect regions and zones of the country.
“Obasanjo should stop all this wailing and focus on God to seek for forgiveness for all his misdeeds as a fortunate leader who mismanaged the mandate given to him,” he said.
Buhari Administration could have done better—Ruwagodia
Katsina based civil rights activist, Dr Bashir Ruwagodia, said the Buhari Administration could have done better in dealing with corruption.
The former Special Adviser on Higher Education to Ex-Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State vouched for Buhari’s own integrity but wondered why his government could not stop or bring to book some of its officials who dipped their hands into the treasury.
Shittu too
Communication Minister in Buhari’s first term, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, shares Ruwagodia’s view on Buhari’s personal integrity, but he said the conduct of some officials of the government left much to be desired.
His words: “Even though the EFCC has not gone to probe the entire government, we do know that the former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, is currently facing trial at the behest of EFCC.
“The crisis with Emefiele’s multidimensional corruption is also a case in point, and I don’t see former President Buhari’s government coming completely clean of it.
“But I know that Buhari as an individual is absolutely incorruptible. But we do also know that, by his nature, he never exhibited any capacity to ensure that all those people working closely with him did a thorough job in ensuring that they were incorruptible.
“So, it is a pity. No matter how incorruptible a leader is, once there are cases of you approving projects for ministers and not seeking to ensure that there’s effective supervisions of such ministers, then one will be indirectly responsible also for their misdeeds.”
“I know that Emefiele had a lot of insiders within the Presidency, who he was using to get a lot of approvals from the President. And that is why we had the gargantuan nature of his misdeeds as Central Bank Governor in the regime of Ex-President Buhari.
“While I agree that Ex-President Buhari is personally incorruptible, the fact that he never exhibited the capacity to properly supervise people around him, particularly people around his office and so on, then that calls to question his capacity for governance.
“I can’t recall any specific effort done to re-launch the erstwhile War Against Corruption in Nigeria. I think he performed better as a military head of state in the fight against corruption than he did as a civilian President.
“The truth now is that he’s no more in government and so the new government must look at the weakness of the Buhari’s administration and put in place new measures to ensure that the hope of Nigerians for better and more incorruptible governance is in place.”
Don’t use Lagos-Calabar highway when completed, Umahi tells Obasanjo
Works Minister David Umahi, who is supervising the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, said critics of the project could as well keep off the road on completion.
“This Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of President Tinubu’s four legacy projects. For those saying it is a waste of resources, they should not use the road when it is completed,” he said in Akure on Thursday.
“There is nothing wasteful or corrupt about the project, he said, adding that “if someone calls this project fraudulent, they are also calling me a fraud, and I am definitely not.
“This project has been very transparent, and we continue to engage stakeholders. Every step of the process is in the public domain.
“The man (Obasanjo), by his age, deserves our respect. But it’s my duty as the Minister of Works to clarify that the project is not wasteful and not corrupt.
“I read on social media where they said why is it me explaining and not the contractor?
“What should the contractor say? It is my duty to explain, and I’m eminently qualified by reason of my years in public service and training as a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers to explain the project.
“I think anybody still criticising the project is waking up to say, ‘How can one man be attributed to this kind of legacy?’ Especially if you had the opportunity to contribute to this kind of investment and didn’t do so.
“The truth remains that Section One of the Lagos-Calabar, which is 47.7 kilometers, is already about 70 percent completed within one year, and I will be asking those criticising it not to follow the road.
“They should not follow the road.”
Speaking at the event, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the successful completion of federal road projects in the state, emphasising the crucial role of infrastructure in driving economic growth and development.
Mr Aiyedatiwa also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for increasing federal presence in Ondo state through numerous infrastructural projects, including the ongoing Ore-Ondo-Akure dualization project, the federal teaching hospital, and the new aviation school, among others.
“We have not had it this good in recent times with federal projects in our state. Permit me to mention but a few: the Akure-Ore Dual Carriageway, the Akure-Ado Ekiti Dual Carriageway, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, and the Federal University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Akure.”
He further stressed the importance of completing these projects, noting their potential to boost economic activities in the state and the South-West region.
He also appealed for additional federal support to actualise critical projects such as the Ondo Deep Sea Port and efforts to mitigate the Ayetoro sea incursion.
Mr. Aiyedatiwa assured Mr Umahi that the Ondo State Government would provide an enabling environment for the successful execution of these projects.
“We are resolute in our commitment to ensuring that these projects are completed for the benefit of our people.
“In this regard, I pledge the Ondo State Government’s unflinching support and commitment towards their completion.” (The Nation)
