Is President Olusegun Obasanjo a Criminal?ByDan Azumi Kofarmatadanazumikofarmata@yahoo.comMonday, 12 February 2007
One of the major Nigerian newspapers reported that President Obasanjo while addressing elders and other stakeholders from Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday, February 10, 2007 on preparations for the forthcoming polls, Obasanjo said that he would give it all it takes to ensure his party’s victory in the elections, adding that he was not prepared to hand over to criminals.
The president’s words: “I read that somebody said that I was campaigning. I will campaign because this election is a do or die affair for the PDP. We have a reform programme, which we have started; we want those who we will hand over to continue the reforms. If we continue with the reforms, the next 20 years, Nigeria will be one of the leading countries in the world. I even said that 20 years is too long, that we should be targeting 15 years. “If we are targeting 2020 as the year Nigeria will become one of the 20 leading economies in the world, we must not pray for spoilers and criminals as our leaders in the next elections. Why should we have criminals as leaders? We want those who will succeed us to continue where we stop.
If these statements attributed to President Obasanjo are correct (and not the usual quoted out of context that we are used to hear from our irritant politicians), then I would say that it is wrong for President Obasanjo to abuse the nation’s most exalted office by continuing to brand his political rivals; the nation’s respected political opposition leaders and some other people he dislikes and hate as criminals. These people he referring to as criminals have not been tried and convicted by any competent court of law in Nigeria and or abroad. These types of gutter utterances from President Obasanjo are types one can only expect to hear from the mouth of people such as the disgraced Ms. Jade Goody of the UK’s Channel 4 Celebrity Big Brother 7 that had a shameful ending recently.
As no single mortal soul is perfect in this world, it is therefore fair enough to call President Obasanjo himself a criminal for all the known criminal activities and actions he engaged as the then military Head of State of Nigeria; his numerous secret treasonable anti-government activities since handing over power in 1979 and the multitudes of fresh criminal and impeachable acts he indulged since1999 when he assumed power as Nigeria’s leader again. The crimes President Obasanjo committed against humanity and the nation are numerous to be analysed in this type of write-up. However, many of them have been well analysed by very respected persons and have been reported and documented in books, journals and Newspaper, Seminars, Conferences and other types of media and documentation facilities.
What the nation is passing through in the last couple of weeks all point to the fact that, President Obasanjo is leaving no body in doublets of his heinous intentions regarding whom he wants to handover the reigns of Nigeria’s leadership after the April 2007 general elections. In my article of Saturday, 10 February 2007 I mentioned that Obasanjo has sworn that he will never hand over the Presidency of Nigeria to three people. These are: Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Former President General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) and Former Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari, in that order. This is the main reason why he was reported as openly declaring that this forthcoming general elections and particularly the Presidential election is a do or die affair for him and the ruling PDP.
In order to further send the message loud and clear to the cynics and those who still believe that he is a joker, the shocking events that happened last week are only wake-up calls to those in doubts of what is awaiting the supposedly democratic landscape of Nigeria come April 2007. A few examples would suffice to buttress how President Obasanjo and his ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDPP) apparatchiks are going about doing this. Take for example the following events of last week: the very highly contentious screening exercise conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of candidates submitted to it by the political parties; the compilation and release of list of 135 Nigerians branded unfit to contest and hold public offices by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); the hurried setting up of an administrative panel of inquiry by the Federal Government to further indict the individuals listed on the now discredited EFCC list and the last but by no means the least, the continued harassment, blackmail and intimidation of politicians from opposition parties to defect from their parties to the ruling PDP using the instrumentality of the EFCC and other state security agencies and instruments of coercion. Already, the vampires of PDP have consumed Governor Adamu Aliero of Kebbi State and the same fate is awaits Sokoto State ANPP.
All along since the collapse of the ill-fated attempt by President Obasanjo and his ruling PDP to alter and or completely change the 1999 Constitution to allow for a third term tenure for him, the EFCC concentrated its activities to smearing potential political opponents of President Obasanjo and discrediting them in the eyes of Nigerians and the international community. For example, the role of the EFCC in the indictment of Vice President Atiku Abubakar through a make-believe investigation of the activities of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the subsequent report of another Kangaroo anti-Vice President Atiku Abubakar Administrative Panel chaired by Attorney-General and Minister of “Justice” Chief Bayo Ojo.
The EFCC and other state instruments of coercions; the police and the State Security Service (SSS) are now in desperate prowl; terrorising, blackmailing, harassing and intimidating political opponents of the ruling PDP and those who played significant anti-third term role. Under this clear and present danger mission, it seems these State agencies are all out to deliver the final blows against whoever stand on the way of President Obasanjo’s inordinate political and selfish ambitions in this do or die war of supposedly, another attempt at democratic leadership transition and succession processes to be witnessed in Nigeria in the 20 years or so.
All these political bravados are illegal, unconstitutional and criminal. Therefore, who ever are behind them should known and understand that they are embarking on dangerous criminal acts against democracy, rule of law and fundamental human rights. The sustained political persecution of Vice President Atiku Abubakar and others; the past and present impeachment moves against a number of State Governors (some of them deserved what they got but some are clearly being witch hunted); the recent EFCC hit list of 135 black listed Nigerians coming at the time it has, must be viewed in the general context of efforts by President Obasanjo and his ruling garrison-commanded PDP to wear down and eliminate genuine opposition presidential candidates. These acts are criminal and should be condemned and stopped by using all peaceful democratic means available. Anyone who indulges in these acts and or supports them can be justifiable called a CRIMINAL. May God save Nigeria from these nightmares being inflicted upon it by a bunch of greedy and criminal minded demagogues masquerading themselves as the nation’s messiahs and do-gooders. Amen. |