Obasanjo
By John Okiyi Kalu
“One of the things that is very important in the life of any man or any person, is that he should be a man or person of his word. If you decide your word should not be taken seriously that’s entirely up to you.”-President Obasanjo speaking on President Jonathan’s 2nd term bid.
FACT CHECK
“Obasanjo promised Ibrahim Babangida that he would go for a single term and then hand over to him.”-Chukwuemeka Ezeife
Prof Omo Omoruyi in a 2002/2003 article titled “AFTER PRESIDENT OBASANJO, WHO/WHAT?” Stated clearly that Obasanjo promised his sponsors (northern military/political cabal) that he will do only one term of 4 years.
Even after same Obasanjo obtained the permission of his “sponsors” to run and win his second term, he attempted a 3rd term.
“At first we started arguing, and then he (Obasanjo) opened his drawer and brought out a copy of the Quran and asked me to swear that I will not be disloyal to him. There was nothing I did not tell him in that room. The first thing I told him was that I swore with the Quran to defend the Constitution of Nigeria. Why are you now giving me the Quran to swear for you again? What if I swear for you and you go against the constitution?
“Secondly, I looked at him and told him that if I don’t like you or don’t support you, would I have called 19 northern governors to meet for three days in my House in Kaduna only for us to turn our back on you?
“Thirdly, I asked him, what are you even doing with the Quran? Are you a Muslim that you would even administer an oath on me with the Quran? I was angry, and I really blasted him. He asked me to forgive him and he returned the Quran back to the drawer, and we came out.”
“In fact we had the same kind of altercation when he was gunning for third term, he informed me that “ I left power twenty years ago, I left Mubarak in office, I left Mugabe in office, I left Eyadema in office, I left Umar Bongo, and even Paul Biya and I came back and they are still in power; and I just did eight years and you are asking me to go; why?” And I responded to him by telling him that Nigeria is not Libya, not Egypt, not Cameroun, and not Togo; I said you must leave; even if it means both of us lose out, but you cannot stay.”
Obasanjo and Atiku fell out some time during their reign, and there were reports that the two never saw eye to eye on issues until their tenure was up. Reports also abounded that the falling out was because the former president reneged on his promise to stay only one term in office and promote Atiku’s presidential bid once he was done after his first four years in office. There were also rumors that Obasanjo had to go on his knees to get Atiku’s support for his second term. Atiku spoke about this as well.
“Honestly, he did not kneel down for me. But he did come to my house and I refused to see him. And he knocked my door continuously and asked me in the name of God to come out, so I came out, and we went downstairs, and he asked me to join him in his car and I said, no, because of security reasons, but he insisted. So when we entered his car, I never knew that he had gone round states pavilions and asking for the support of governors and delegates and they refused to listen to him because they have not seen us together. So that was why he came and picked me up so that we would go round together. There is something that many people did not know before, which I will tell you now.
“We sat with party elders and discussed the issue of Presidency and there was debate as to whether the South will have eight or four years? If the South had eight years, so the north too should have eight years subsequently. After lots of debates, it was finally agreed that the South should have eight years. And when power returns to the north, they should also have it for eight years.
“However, governors objected to this arrangement. I was then in a dilemma; is the governors’ objection genuine or just a political gimmick. What if I followed them to run against the president and they later on turn their back on me and align with the president? At the end of the day, one would neither be a vice president or a president because politics is a slippery game.”
When asked about his role in the splitting up of the People’s Democractic Party, Atiku admitted that he and the erstwhile governors had been plotting that move for four months. “We have been planning for some time because we have spent almost four months planning how to split the PDP.
“At first I didn’t know the arrowhead, but they eventually came and met me and I joined them because their reasons are the same with the ones I have been fighting against within the party; lack of fairness, honesty and tyranny. If I can fight the military to restore democracy, why can’t I fight fellow politicians?”
-Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
While I have no doubt that President Jonathan publicly promised to do only one term as President (I have newspaper clips) what irks me is when people whose intergrity are by no means better make issues out of another’s failures.
I can boldly state that no single elected political office holder from 1999 to date told us he will do two terms. They all promised single tenure and later came back to ask for 2 terms using Obasanjo’s principle of holding unto what you have (he made the satement when confronted with the fact of PDP zoning arrangement that purportedly excluded Jonathan from running in 2011. He backed Jonathan then without regards to that document that was signed in 2002 because of his attempt to do two terms.)
Will hypocrisy ever end in Nigeria’s politics? Yesterday, Amaechi was a K-leg politician to Obasanjo and Atiku was a very corrupt man to El Rufai. Evil men only gang up against someone to protect evil interests.
Nigerians, shine your eyes….evil men have formed a conglomerate in APC.
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