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Nairaland Forum / Nairaland / General / Politics / Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun (801 Views)
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Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by Emnyte(m): 8:10am On Jan 31, 2016 |
Former Secretary of the National Democratic Coalition and Convener of the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms, Chief Ayo Opadokun, tells LEKE BAIYEWU that former President Olusegun Obasanjo is not eligible to say the National Assembly is corrupt H ow do you feel about former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter to the leadership of the National Assembly, accusing the legislature of corruption? I don’t throw out the baby with birthwater. In journalism, there is a theory that teaches that the medium is the message; that is, if you have a good product you want to sell, if you use an improper or incredible medium, it will have a counter-effect. As much as I do not believe that Obasanjo is the right person to make such a claim, it is equally important that some of the issues he has raised are major matters of national concern. Part of what the Obasanjo-led government did was the monetisation of salary and statutory of office. I believe that Obasanjo is saying the right thing. It is unfortunate that at this tight period when we have economic downturn; when there is so much poverty in town, the National Assembly, as the media have reported, is going to purchase a very long list of vehicles for each committee, which they have said is for the sole purpose of oversight functions. I think it is very unfortunate and they are not doing themselves any good. I know that there are some good elements – just some – very responsible and credible elements in the place (Assembly). But the larger majority are the types that live on money and power, and they don’t feel the pinch of the Nigerian man and their constituents. Senator Dino Melaye has alleged that Obasanjo exposed the National Assembly to corruption when he was the President. Is this correct? That is a statement of fact that he cannot deny; Obasanjo cannot deny that. There were several instances where money changed hands (between the Presidency and the National Assembly); they even brought some into the open at the Assembly about three times when he was to be impeached. Then, the money some people received were sent through his liaison officers; some of them were brought to the open sittings of the House of Representatives and the Senate. That is why I said it does not lie in his mouth to make such allegations. Obasanjo enjoys hearing himself; imagining himself to be the Solomon of Nigeria. It is unfortunate that he ought to be silent now. It does not lie in his mouth any longer. If we are talking about wasteful spending, President Obasanjo ought to be recognised as the first person, the biggest and the guiltiest of that. Ask him about all the (the late Gen. Sani) Abacha loot recovered: where were they recorded? The monies from oil licenses sign-off, which one of them did they receive and kept in the Federation Account? There were too many things he did during his time that are mind-boggling. He was the Minister for Petroleum Resources for eight years and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, throughout his eight-year period, was not audited. What is he talking about now? There are some of the statements he has made that are valid, which should concern all of us too. It is not that he is a credible person to say it. All that the National Assembly men and women ought to have had been monetised. The idea of buying cars for committees again is really insensitive. How about that allegation that the National Assembly was induced to approve a third term for the ex-president? I got sufficient credible information about that. The amount offered to senators was more than that offered to the House of Representatives – mint notes. When he saw that so many other forces were against him, he started to talk to himself that he didn’t want a third term; that if he wanted it, God could have given it to him. Tracing the root of corruption in the National Assembly, is it true that the Obasanjo-led administration exposed the legislature to graft? It did but the National Assembly itself was made up of majority of corrupt men and women. The two of them were in tandem. We did some analysis of the membership of the National Assembly – the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and the 4th – when he was there in particular, we found out that one-third of them were ex-convicts. A former Assistant Inspector General of Police had raised the matter in the Senate that the people he had interrogated were sitting down together with him. The significant majority of the Representatives were fellow military collaborators, military confederates, military loyalists and military sympathisers. They were not together with us (the masses) in the barricade fighting for the restoration of democracy to Nigeria. Nigerian legislators have yet to accept the truth that they are the highest paid; we are not talking of the combination of allowances, just salary. They know what they organised for themselves. It had been expressed in frontline journals and informed media commentaries, comparing their take-home pay with that of (their colleagues in) Britain and America. Considering that state of our economy, if they are real agents; if they are true representatives of the people, they ought to be sensitive to the status of the economy and the rate of poverty in the country currently. Nobody needed to tell them about that. With Obasanjo’s experience as the longest-serving president to date and being an elder statesman, is he not eligible to caution any public institution against going astray? I don’t exercise judgment for sentiments. The truth of the matter is that Obasanjo has been a negative influence in totality to our land. Quote me: he has been a disaster. God gave him the best opportunity in the world. Being the military Head of State and civilian President (for two terms of eight years), he was in the position to turn around the misfortune of Nigeria totally. But he wasted all the opportunity. Do I need to remind anyone that this man was reported to have spent about $16bn on power? How many megawatts of power did he add to what he met when he came (became President) in 1999. The money for the Independent Power Projects, what happened to it? But will you agree that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission established by Obasanjo are still being used to fight graft in the country to date? I believe that he only wanted to be in the good books of the Western countries who urged him and to show them that he wanted to fight corruption. But he was not serious about it. From all the media reports and those who had presided over the agencies, they needed fiat before they could take on the politically exposed people. Do you know how many ex-governors have been taken to court and whose cases have been abandoned for about 10 years? If you are in his good books, nothing adverse will happen to you; if you are not, the EFCC will run after you. He used the agency to do a lot of damage. For example, I feel pained when I listen to some of our people abusing (former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye) Alamieyeseigha. I react to such people that President Obasanjo illegally, unreasonably and wickedly wanted to punish Amamieyeseigha for agitating for resource control, which others (governors) were not willing to do. In our constitution, no national government has any right to go and impeach a governor of a state. The governor was elected like he was elected by his people. Obasanjo could not get the House of Assembly in Bayelsa to help him impeach Alamieyeseigha. They were able to blackmail some of the lawmakers and give them a lot of money, took them out of Yenagoa to Port Harcourt and later Abuja. An arrangement was made, a new Speaker was elected and within few days Alamieyeseigha was impeached. As soon as that was declared, the policemen came to arrest him (the ex-governor). Tell me, what is the justice in that? Where is the legitimacy of what they have done? Where is the rule of law in that? Let Obasanjo tell Nigerians how he acquired all that he now possesses. Go and see his farms in every part of Nigeria. See what the old man has accumulated as if he is going to live for the next two centuries. With the money he allocated to the Ministries of Work and Housing, how many roads did Obasanjo build throughout his terms. The road between Lagos and Ota – his base – that was awarded when he was the Head of State, which were not completed then, remained uncompleted after another eight years (as president). What pride does he have to be making toxic remarks against other people? Obasanjo has never walked his talk. He has this attitude of overrating himself. He said somewhere last year that he was afraid that there would be a major disaster due to unemployment. Let us ask him, how many people did he employ? Did his policies enable investors to bring their money to Nigeria so that the economy would expand? It does not lie in his mouth. http://www.punchng.com/obasanjo-not-fit-say-nassembly-corrupt-opadokun/ |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by canah01(m): 8:12am On Jan 31, 2016 |
.... |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by Nobody: 8:12am On Jan 31, 2016 |
ok |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by Remii(m): 8:37am On Jan 31, 2016 |
Anybody is fit to say the right thing, Obj has not said he himself is not corrupt. if we go by this "Only Saint Can Talk" attitude, there will be no judge, no police, etc, you cant even correct children for offense you have committed in past. IMO, as long as what is being said is the truth, anyone can say it. 1 Like |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by chriskosherbal(m): 8:38am On Jan 31, 2016 |
Why we he say so |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by dammytosh: 8:45am On Jan 31, 2016 |
Remii: Flesh and blood did not reveal dt revelation to u. 1 Like 1 Share |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by pet4ril(f): 8:50am On Jan 31, 2016 |
Isokay.......no cause for alarm |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by yanabasee(m): 9:39am On Jan 31, 2016 |
OBJ is smart nao.... You wouldn't expect him to accuse others of being corrupt when he knows that many people will raise eyebrows...... PMB claims that he's not corrupt... If only SaharaReporters/channelsTV weren't Tinubu's talking machine... I'm sure by now, his secrets would've been exposed. |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by Day169: 12:59pm On Jan 31, 2016 |
But truth be told, the NA, esp the upper house remains a fortress for past corrupt leaders in this country. Just take a look around starting from the top. |
Re: Obasanjo Not Fit To Say N’assembly Is Corrupt — Opadokun by dan55: 1:03pm On Jan 31, 2016 |
See sense in the that |
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