Novice1: He can only "monitor' but was unable to organise free and fair elections

tai2: Abi he went to teach them how to rig election....see OBJ forming Jimmy Carter...awon oloshi

GenBuhari: [size=18pt]Nigeria's Obasanjo and the $16 Billion Power Scam[/size]

Frontline Catholic cleric and social critic, Rev. Fr. Matthew Hassan Kukah, perhaps, spoke the minds of millions of Nigerians when he said recently that former President Olusegun Obasanjo deserved to be formally tried for his alleged role in the squandering about $16 billion voted for resuscitating the near-dead power sector during his administration between 1999 and 2007. Kukah, a close family friend of the Obasanjos, was the Secretary to the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) initiated by the Obasanjo government in 2005.

This call, which is a challenge to the Goodluck Jonathan administration, could not have come at a more appropriate time, especially considering the President's recent assurance that his administration would go after those who looted the national treasury, no matter how highly placed they may be. But many Nigerians doubt if Dr. Jonathan will summon the will to bring his political benefactor to book.

Dr. Kukah, who also chided critics and civil society groups for not doing enough to ensure that Obasanjo is arraigned, said: "Obasanjo probably will never be the President of Nigeria again, but we should be concerned if Obasanjo deserves to go to prison. Vilifying him doesn't give us (electric) power; it also doesn't get us the criminals that have taken our money, wherever they are. I would have loved to have Obasanjo brought to trial, because then we would know the truth." Besides the scandal ravaging the power sector, which the former President directly supervised, the double standards of the Presidency, under him, in the many established cases of corrupt self-enrichment by key government functionaries during his tenure were mind-boggling.

After the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unearthed a N56 billion fraud by the former Board of Directors of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), for example, Obasanjo failed to institute any process towards recovering the stolen amount and/or prosecuting the culprits, who were said to be his close political allies. Rather, some of those who served on that board were appointed to other boards subsequently. Before that scandal came to light, back in July 2002, Nigerians had been shocked when the then Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Godwin Kanu Agabi, filed a nolle prosequi (discontinuance of prosecution) on the day an Abuja High Court was scheduled to deliver judgment in a case of alleged embezzlement of N420 million by Dr. Julius Makanjuola, Obasanjo's relation and a Director at the Ministry of Defence.

And in 2006, Nigerians were similarly shell-shocked over the revelation of massive pillaging at the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) allegedly involving Obasanjo and his Deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. This was to be followed by allegations of Obasanjo's involvements in the Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp), which bought over Abuja's NICON Hilton Hotel, the Nigerian Telecommunications Limited (NITEL), and also acquired some oil blocks.

Fr. Kukah's recent call is timely. Nigerians continue till today to endure perennial darkness, with no real clue to the cause of the apparent intractability of the power sector's woes. It is disheartening, in this regard, that like the late President Umaru Yar'Adua, Dr. Jonathan has surrounded himself with some of the key figures that helped ex-President Obasanjo fail so dismally in service delivery. While we commend Jonathan over his appointment of Professor Bath Nnaji as Special Adviser on Power, it must be noted that Mr. Joseph Makoju, a seasoned professional, had held that same position under the Yar'Adua administration and also under the Obasanjo government. In addition, he was PHCN Managing Director for the better part of the latter administration. He ought to be facing intense interrogation over what happened to the alleged misappropriated $16 billion.

And, with discredited functionaries and contractors of the Obasanjo era still hovering around The Presidency and the PHCN, poised to snatch whatever fresh allocations go to the power sector, where is the guarantee that Nigeria will ever have improved electricity supply in the foreseeable future? While we urge the Federal Government to seek out individuals and organizations, locally and abroad, with proven track records in performance and integrity to revive the ailing sector, the issue of the mismanaged billions should not be treated as a 'family affair' of the ruling party. Nigeria's public funds must be accounted for.

Since the National Assembly Probe Committee on the Power scam was itself to be later dragged into the corruption quagmire, we call for a thorough investigation, by the EFCC, into the whereabouts of the vanished power allocations.

The former President, on his part, should cooperate fully with the investigators, in order to clear his name of the strong suspicions surrounding his administration's wasteful disbursement of the $16 billion power sector allocations. There should be no sacred cows, as he used to say while in office. Any preferential treatment of individuals will create the impression that the Nigerian government's commitment to the anti-corruption crusade, economic reform and transparent governance is cosmetic and insincere.

While sleaze in high places thrives, the ordinary citizens' quality of life has remained dismal, infrastructural facilities are decrepit, mass unemployment ravages the land, and poverty sentences the vast majority to a life of unrelieved misery.

GenBuhari: [size=18pt]Obasanjo institutionalised corruption in Nigeria - Yakassai[/size]
Sunday, 14 November 2010
Tanko Yakassai

It was in the evening after his routine, that Alhaji Tanko Yakassai—first Commissioner for Information in Kano State and Special Adviser to former President Shehu Shagari on National Assembly Matters—spoke in his serene residence in Kano to KEHINDE OYETIMI and KOLA OYELERE about the state of the nation, the Northern alliance ahead of 2011, among other issues. Excerpts:


If you are to look at the role of money, violence and thuggery in this nation, do you agree that Nigerian elections have never been the reflection of the wish of the electorate?
In most cases, yes. But I believe that the 1979 election was to a large extent, a true reflection of the expectation of the Nigerian electorate. To a larger degree, the 1983 election was. I can cite the example of Kano when in 1979, PRP under the leadership of the late Aminu Kano, won the election in Kano hands down. They won state Assembly elections, National Assembly elections among others. In 1983, three months after the demise of Aminu Kano, the PRP repeated the same performance. They won the gubernatorial election against an incumbent governor. They won almost the same majority in the state Assembly and also in the National Assembly. Take the 1993 election where Chief M.K.O. Abiola was also elected. That election also reflected the true wishes of the Nigerian electorate. There are instances where some elections in Nigeria reflected the true wishes of the electorate.

Definitely as we progress, the situation continues deteriorating. This is largely brought about by money-politics. Money-politics, whether we like it or not, is the legacy of military rule. The massive corruption that we witness in the governance of this country today is the bye-products of the military. For the simple reason that the period of 1979 and 1983, there was much talk about corruption and so on. But if you look at the people who were in government in those days, you cannot pinpoint the wealth that they accumulated as you can now pinpoint the amount of wealth that military rulers in this country were able to accumulate to themselves. It was easy for them because before then others did it and nothing happened to them.

From 1975 to 1979, that was the beginning of the corruption by the military rulers. Gowon was in power for nine years. You know who the principal actors were during Gowon’s regime. The civilian took over in 1979; they ran for four years and two months. The military took over; enquiries were set up all over the country. As we go by the findings of Justice Ayo Irikefe who investigated the regime under Shagari, what he said of the Vice President—Alex Ekwueme—was that he joined government as a rich man and he left government poorer. The same thing with Shagari. They investigated him; he was in detention for almost two years. By the time he came out, even the common generator which he had was out of service. It took the sympathy of some friends of his to repair the generator. When he came out of detention, he had no business. He had to concentrate on his farm. But that generator was helping his borehole to provide water for his livestock and farm. It was because of his pitiful situation and that of General Gowon that General Sanni Abacha decided that former Heads of State should be given pension and gratuity. He went to the extent of visiting Shagari’s house and saw how substandard it was compared to the position of Shagari. Shagari was even better than Gowon. Shagari had a house no matter how modest it was but Gowon hadn’t got any. Out of pity, the government of Plateau State built a house for him. When Obasanjo came to power, they confiscated that house which was built for him. So he was unable to own a house until Abacha directed that they should indicate the spots that they wanted personal houses to be built for them free-of-charge. It was then Gowon and Shagari were able to get houses that you could say are befitting former heads of state.

The maniac for corruption in government in a massive scale started from Murtala/Obasanjo’s regime.

Fortunately or unfortunately for this country, it has never witnessed massive stealing of the highest magnitude as we have witnessed during the second coming of Obasanjo. I’m talking of 1999 to 2007. If you listen to the revelation of colossal amount of money that was wasted or stolen as was revealed in the power probe of the House of Representatives and also the stealing in the Education Trust Fund that nobody would ever dream that people can commit such crimes and go away with it. Come down to the state governors, you would hear that a governor misappropriated billions of naira from the state. Look at the case of Igbinedion. How much he admitted in court through plea bargaining that he stole. But he was convicted for a short period of time.

Also and unfortunately, the judiciary is not helping matters. There are corruption cases now that are pending for over five years. The people accused are going about freely. If people can steal billions of Nigeria and hire 5 to 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, then get the court to set them free to go about their business, are we not supporting it? Only a man who has the fear of God will fail to steal when he gets to that kind of position. Punishing people is to serve as deterrent to others. But if people will commit an offence and go about their business freely, it would be an encouragement for others. It is true that Obasanjo created ICPC and EFCC but what happened later created doubts in the minds of many people whether he was generally sincere in creating those institutions to fight corruption; whether he did it to use them to fight his political enemies. It was because of that example of tolerance to stealing by government that the issue of corruption became a serious cancer in the body polity. No individual can tell you how we can overcome this even if he is a prophet. Of course, the thing is everywhere. The big people are doing it. The man who is handling fuel pump is doing it. Everybody now is a thief.

Are you saying that between 1999 and 2007, corruption was given the greatest boost?
Corruption was institutionalized in Nigeria. Go and get the reports and surprisingly nobody was arrested. Only a few. Look at the Halliburton incidence.

There are five key players in the North as we approach the 2011 elections—IBB, Atiku, Buhari, Gusau and Bukola Saraki. Do you believe that a Northern consensus candidate will work at this time?
A consensus candidate in the PDP, not in the entire North. Talking about a contest between Goodluck Jonathan and other contestants in the PDP. What people are saying is that if the northerners insist that this is their turn to get a northerner nominated by the PDP and that right is being usurped by Jonathan and if they are serious in trying to rescue the right of the their people, then it would not augur well for four people to be fighting for it. They agreed, they signed a document, they appointed a committee. Once it is decided, they said they would abide by it. They said they would collapse their campaign mobilization to help that person to succeed. We are not talking of a consensus candidate for the North. We are talking about a consensus candidate in the PDP to contest against Jonathan. Any other northerner can come out because it is everyone’s right. What we are saying is that in the PDP which is the party that promised northerners that if they vote for Obasanjo after eight years, the power would shift back to the north for another eight years, which is why we are saying there must be a consensus candidate in the PDP.

The North has held power for over 30 years out of a nation’s life of 50 with almost nothing to show for it in terms of development in the North. Does the North deserve to continue again?
There are two answers. Number one, Southerners are saying power stayed in the North for a long period. They are deliberately ignoring the fact that this period was under military rule which everybody believed was an aberration. It was not through elections. Why did the power stay longer in the North during the military era? By the time the 1966 military coup took place, northerners in the military of significant ranks constituted about 75 to 80 per cent of all the men in the military uniform in Nigeria. When Ironsi was overthrown, those who staged the coup decided that Brigadier Ogundipe should be the head of state. They called him to take over power in 1966. Ogundipe declined. He said they should give it to Gowon because the majority of the people in the armed forces were northerners. So, he felt they would be more loyal if a northerner was given the leadership.

Number two: there is a saying in Hausa that a bird that calls for rain will end up being soaked by it when it comes. Anybody who calls for trouble should be the one to suffer the consequence. It was not the northerners who staged the coup in the first place; it was the southerners who introduced coup into Nigeria’s political system—Nzeogwu, Njokwu, Ifejuana and the rest. If southerners could stage a coup, then they should be prepared to suffer the consequence. They should not blame the northerners. If they were in the majority, they would have kept the power for a long time.

The number of Almajiris is becoming quite disturbing in the North. What is being done to help these children seeing that they are beginning to constitute a menace?
When the British came, they found the North to be predominantly Muslim. We had our educational system linked to the Islamic education. Instead of integrating this and because of their hatred for Islam, they decided to leave the question of education in the hands of the Christian missionaries. When they came they said the Christian missionaries would establish schools to educate the children. Our forefathers said no. How can a Muslim surrender his children to Christian missionaries? Today, we have seen the havoc it has created to the Muslims in the west. People like Akinloye, Akinjide, Adeniran Ogunsanya—all were from Muslim families but for going to missionary schools, they turned Christians, they bade goodbye to Islam. This was the beginning of this problem.

After our people took over power, there was no deliberate policy to address this issue. They hold the system of Madrasa in Pakistan. There they modified. The children don’t have to go round the town begging. They put it in manner that parents have to pay minimum to maintain the schools because the schools created vocational activities to generate some income to maintain the school. Originally the parents were paying token money; we call it laraba; as time went on the money was not enough to care for the teachers and the children. The children then had to go out to find the means of sustaining themselves. But to do away with this problem, we need combined efforts involving the federal, state and local governments, in fact, as well as philanthropists.

Let the statistics of the children be taken; once this is taken then their place of origin can be identified. Then we work out how much would be needed to maintain them. Then part of the money for education in Nigeria should be pumped into that system. But the curriculum in the school can be modified to include western education so that they would be running their Quranic education side by side western education. In a matter of a limited period of time, you will see that the problem would vanish. Bu there is no political will to do this by all our leaders. Nobody bothers.

Zoning has moved from the PDP to a national debate. Do you believe that zoning the presidency is democratic and that the nation needs it at this point of our democracy?
I think it is democratic. Although, in Nigeria, NPN introduced zoning and rotation in 1979, it copied from the zoning system in Switzerland which has been going on for hundreds of years and no trouble…

…Why the trouble here?
Selfishness and shortsightedness on the part of those who introduced the idea in the PDP. A lot of them are my friends but they are responsible for this dilemma that we are in today. When NPN decided to do zoning, they put it in the constitution not only as matter of principle but they spelled out where the president should come from, where the vice president should come from, where the party leader should come from, where the senate leader should come from, where the speaker and the majority leader should come and all that, including the rotation. Everything was put in black and white. At least, members of the PDP are experienced and they know what happened in the NPN, most of them were participants at the 1994/95 Constitution Conference where zoning and rotation were institutionalized into our constitution, where the six geo-political zones idea was conceived and adopted. Sanni Abacha agreed with it; I was a member. It was there that we felt that there should be three vice presidents; there was to be the president, one vice president from the North, the other from the south, and an additional vice president from wherever the president comes from.

This was to be so that in the event that the president is unable to continue as the president just like what happened to Yar’ Adua, the vice president from his zone would take over. It was put at that constitution. In fact, Sanni Abacha, in his wisdom, went as far as wanting to create the position of prime minister and deputy prime minister and insisting that they must come from the same region.

Won’t this have been complex to operate?
It was not complex. In Niger, Ivory Coast, France, all operate similar structures. The three vice presidents issue was a special case for us. In a democracy, you adopt a style of governance that reflects the peculiarity of the circumstance. That is why democracy in America is different from that of England. Even in Europe, democracy in France is different from that of Italy. The one in Germany is different from Italy even though they are similar. A Chancellor in Germany is equivalent to prime minister in Italy.

Are you saying that if we’ve had three vice presidents, the Yar’ Adua problem would have easily been solved?
Yes.

But zoning is not in the constitution which gives Jonathan the right to go for another term.
Why was it introduced in the first place? They are hypocrites. Why didn’t they say so when NPN introduced it 1979? Why didn’t they say it when Obasanjo said it when he was president for eight years? In our constitution we agreed on the issue of federal character. Zoning is an extension of the federal character.

People believe that the issue of zoning and the federal character have the tendency of whipping up mediocrity.
In Nigeria, every village has a graduate. Today, it is nonsense for anybody to talk of that. There are unemployed graduates everywhere. We have people who can run this country.

It is believed that the INEC Chair will serve as stooge to some “interests” come 2011. Do you foresee any fairness in the elections?
I believe in the integrity of the INEC chairman. I believe in the goodwill created for him by the members of the National Assembly by changing the Electoral Act to make it possible for free and fair primaries. If the products of the primaries are not produced through transparent arrangements, forget about democracy.

So you are insisting that a free and fair playground would work against Jonathan’s ambition?
Free and fair elections won’t be in Jonathan’s interest. Free and fair elections will produce a government that will try to look into the misbehaviours of Obasanjo’s regime.

When Obasanjo was in power, he allocated plots to himself in the choice area near the CBN quarters. I did not count. My calculation is that they are about 20 blocks of flat. They may be more. He started building them and the project was halted for almost 20 years since he left office. When he became president, he completed them. Obasanjo raised N7 billion to build Obasanjo Library which Federal Government establishments like Port Authorities, Maritime Authorities contributed money including big government contractors and businessmen like Dangote, Otedola contributed billions. Who has ever done that in the whole world? Obasanjo today has a palatial house at the minister’s quarters. It is a new, gigantic building. Obasanjo has farms all over Nigeria. He went as far as to perhaps Uganda to buy land to farm. This man is 75 and I’m 84 but I believe if you give me the CBN today, I can’t eat more than what I am eating; I can’t sleep in the kind of bed that I am sleeping. Why should a man at 75 be amassing such wealth like a madman? Obasanjo will not like a transparent government because it would probe him. No credible person will emerge through fair election that would leave Obasanjo untouched.

A-town:


That is the problem with you NIGERIANS. If you don't APPRECIATE your OWN. Somebody else WILL. 20 yrs from now, the history books will tell you what a blessing Obasanjo was to Nigeria.

Naval sadiq: .bros ow na!from the look of fins your teeth they complete na

wellmax: Well done Obj, we are proud of you. A true African statesman.

GenBuhari:
[size=18pt] The Nigerian Disaster Called Obasanjo [/size]
Posted: October 17, 2010 - 18:22

http://saharareporters.com/report/nigerian-disaster-called-obasanjo-0

Obasanjo was a total failure in office the second time around from May 29, 1999, and did not deserve to come back in 2003, so he embarked on the greatest electoral fraud perhaps any country in the world had ever experienced.

The rigging was monumental, audacious, vicious and unprecedented and yet it was uncalled for and totally unnecessary because he would still have won the election anyway, he had no competition in the field. As a ruler, he punished us with lack of electricity, pot-hole infested unmotorable highways, worthless currency, dry water taps, hunger, massive unemployment, regularly closed schools, criminally charged environment, and primitive living conditions.

He made a lot of palaver about anti-corruption but there was the issue of the endless estacodes he garnered from travels around the world virtually every week, in a self-approved N9.3 billion jet, to enjoy civilized quality of life abroad, brought about in those countries by conscientious, dedicated, caring and focused leaderships. Yes, Obasanjo shelled out N9.3 billion (US $72 million), for his new power toy, a Boeing Business Jet 737-800 series for exclusive use, bringing to six, at the last count, the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet. In other words, our President had six assorted deluxe jets, while the US Air Force had only two aircraft available for the use of the US President. Whichever of the two the US President flew in, was designated Air Force One for that moment. Britain’s Tony Blair proudly flew with the British Airways.

President Obasanjo loved chasing after shadows and he was too pre-occupied with day-to-day partisan party issues. He did not know when to separate being a statesman from being a party man. He went around the world regularly visiting other heads of states without learning anything from them. Obasanjo thought he was a PDP President. He did not know that once he had been elected into office, the PDP became a discrete issue in his portfolio and he became President of Nigeria and father for all. I think this was one of the most serious problems we had with Obasanjo. He boasted all the time about being a PDP, and attended their mundane activities, as if he was an ordinary rank and file member.

He was so involved in his party affairs that he succeeded in turning his party into a personal instrument of vendetta, and single-handedly took all its major decisions, as he tried to do on the government level for the entire country. He jettisoned his party’s constitution; settled for non-elective rather than elective congresses and appointments into party positions, and alienated all the elders and founders of the party, and drove them into opposition parties. His Ministers also boasted about being party Ministers. I was shocked in 2005 when Ogunlewe, his onetime Minister for Works and Housing, told journalists that he was a PDP Minister.

One of the most serious problems that plagued us as a people during Obasanjo’s second time in power was his disdain for the rule of law, and in particular, the laws of the land. A president who would not obey his own laws, forfeits moral grounds to enforce such laws? That was the main reason for the general increase in lawlessness in our society during Obasanjo’s civilian leadership. Obasanjo introduced a vicious criminal streak that destroyed the moral fabric of our society. He actually worshiped criminality in a most unbecoming and disturbing manner. Court decisions taken against him or his regime were ignored.

For example, his holding on to huge funds legally due to Lagos State Councils was against the advice of two courts of the land, including the Supreme Court. His disrespect for court decisions became so frustrating that lawyers in the country had to go on strike by boycotting court sessions for a couple of days in March 2006, to protest against Obasanjo’s high-handedness. And in a speech on May 31, 2006, the retiring Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Muhammed Uwais, described government’s disregard of Court judgments as, “evidence of bad government.”

Obasanjo encouraged his lieutenants to ignore the laws and provided cover for them after the act. People who had access to Obasanjo took our laws into their own hands. They even went to him to share crooked banters because they assumed he loved listening to rogues and fraudsters, and would offer encouragement. To massage his ego, they told him he was the messiah Nigeria had been waiting for. He got carried away; patted the sycophants on the back, and gave them assignments on behalf of his party and government.

The President told the world in late 2003 that Chris Uba and Governor Chris Ngige confessed before him that the elections in Anambra state in 2003 were rigged. He said this without a sting of conscience or moral qualm. In fact, with his connivance and support, Chris Uba used the Federal police to abduct Governor Ngige because Ngige reneged on his promise to deliver substantial amount regularly from the state coffers to his political godfather, Chris Uba. When that strategy failed, Uba unleashed mayhem on the state with hired thugs hailed by police officers, burning cars and public buildings, including the state governor’s premises. When the efforts failed to remove the governor from office, or make the state ungovernable so as to get a chance to declare a state of emergency, Obasanjo awarded oil block to Chris Uba, and Obasanjo’s PDP sacked the governor from their party (the PDP), and promoted Chris Uba to the PDP’s trusteeship board. Uba was a PDP hero. In other words, you could be the worst criminal in the world, if you joined the PDP you were covered, as long as you were sharing your loot with the party.

On the other hand, Ngige’s name appeared to be too short for words, (he is short physically too). Imagine signing his own death warrant in broad daylight without undue duress, and having the effrontery later on to point accusing fingers. People lacking in self-honour and principles should not be allowed to rubbish our cherished values. Despite this, a coup is a coup, whether civilian or military, and Uba’s lawlessness in Anambra state should have been visited with the due process of the law.

Obasanjo replicated the Anambra state saga in Oyo state where an illiterate political godfather to Rashidi Ladoja, the governor of the state, was insisting on sharing the purported state’s security vote of N65 million monthly with the governor. The governor was playing footsie on the matter so, the national chairman of the governor’s political party, the PDP, Dr. Ahmed Ali, advised the governor to respect the wish of his godfather, and play the politics of his state, (or Ibadan politics as he put it). The party chairman, who himself was an aberration, because the president short-circuited his party’s constitutional provisions to plant him in the chairmanship position, was actually telling the governor to play ball and not be a fool.

Impeachment of the governor required two-thirds of the 32 members of the State House of Assembly to succeed, so the godfather’s 18 members in the house suspended their 14 members supporting the governor, and with the open backing of the Federal government, the Federal police prevented the 14 suspended members from attending the kangaroo assembly at which the 18 claimed to have impeached the governor. Obasanjo did not have sleepless nights over the matter. If anything, he and his party felt fulfilled that the new governor they had installed was dancing to the tune of the godfather. It was possible that the new governor was sharing his security vote with the godfather who in turn shared it with party members, to the satisfaction of the President and his PDP. The illiterate godfather nominated 90% of the state’s new commissioners and planted his crony, another stark illiterate, as the new Deputy-Governor.

Obasanjo sent Federal police to protect the illegal governor in office, and to tear-gas and arrest leaders of trade union and human rights groups, protesting against the illegality. The same way he tear–gassed, humiliated, and arrested our mothers, peacefully demonstrating solidarity with parents who had lost their children in an air-crash a few weeks earlier. Of course, governor Ladoja went to court, but that did not worry those who plotted the coup against him, because going by Nigerian courts’ traditions, the matter could drag until the end of tenure of the illegal regime in May 2007.

Obasanjo condoned his party’s fraudulent activities in Anambra and Oyo states but railed against his imagined Lagos state illegitimacy. In 2003, INEC (the Independent National Electoral Commission), posted false report on its Internet website some days before the actual gubernatorial election took place, giving victory in Lagos state to Obasanjo’s party. No one ever heard Obasanjo comment on that, or on the PDP’s well known rigged elections across Nigeria in 2003, that put him in power. Peter Obi of APGA’s stolen mandate, as the elected Governor of Anambra State, was restored in court, some three years into the illegal occupation of the position by Ngige of the PDP.

In the Delta State, rigging by the president’s party showed that all registered voters came out to vote, whereas voting did not take place in most areas of the state. The court ruled in Buhari’s case against Obasanjo, that the PDP massively rigged Obasanjo’s home state, Ogun, in 2003. Obasanjo not only rigged to claim that all registered voters in Ogun State voted during the 2003 elections, he added 600,000 fictitious votes of his own, to exceed the list of registered voters.

At a meeting with the South-West caucus of his party, the PDP, during a visit to Ogun state in early February 2006, Obasanjo said: “The person who rigged the elections in Lagos State came to me. You know I am a man of my words. It was in the presence of Bode George. The person prostrated and begged me. He confessed that he was the one who falsified the results of Lagos state. I told him God allowed it; otherwise, he would have been attacked by leprosy.”

Now what kind of future is there if the president of an aspiring democracy, openly, proudly, and confidently, admits that he condones electoral fraud? Why would anyone go to the president to prostrate and beg him on anything if the person wasn’t after some favours? The president did not contest election against the governor of Lagos state directly; therefore, such flippant talk should have been reserved for the PDP’s secretariat. But knowing that the president was gullible and would gladly embrace riggers of elections, the tale-bearer went confidently to the seat of power, convinced of a hearing, and a place in the future election plans of the president.

The president did not hand the fraudster over to the Police or INEC because apparently the ‘expert rigger of elections in Lagos state’ was God-sent. As a result, Obasanjo assured his February 2006 Ogun state audience, that Lagos state was already as good as won by the PDP in 2007. In fact, he had publicly given similar assurance before. That was while he was attending a rally in Central Lagos in 2005. He said then that the PDP would ‘capture’ Lagos in 2007. ‘Capture’ is a very strong word to use. It is a language of war, inappropriate in a family, or the Nigerian union context, but he was not joking. He was seeing the opposition parties as enemies.

He told his February, 2006, Ogun state audience: “We don’t want our enemies to surprise us but we have to surprise them so that by the time they open their eyes, they will discover that they are blind.” The president spoke of enemies as if he was at war with another country. He was supposed to be a father to all, but kept boasting instead of his rigging prowess, and confessing to aiding and abetting electoral fraud, (by the time they open their eyes), which obviously is a worst crime than converting state coffers into personal use, because rigged elections could lead to state disintegration.

To crush his enemies across the country, Obasanjo planted his cronies everywhere. He really did not have friends as such. If he could not use you, his parley-parley with you ended. Most people working with the president were compromised one way or the other. To compromise National Assembly members, the allegation is that he dangled lucrative contracts, oil bloc allocations, which they could sell to third parties, cash bribes, and other pecks. Compromise produced cobwebs in their cupboards, which he used to intimidate and coerce them.

GenBuhari: [size=18pt]How Obasanjo and his inner circle Stole Nigeria's Billions of Dollars [/size]
Friday, 09 September 2011 17:09 [elombah.com]

Corruption pervades the entire levels of the private and public sector under the administration of Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, so said a US Diplomatic cables revealed by wikileaks. The report said that "the arrests in London of the Bayelsa and Plateau State governors have barely scratched the surface of the endemic corruption at the federal, state, and local level. The diplomatic cables noted that in a
widely-circulated August 22 letter to President Obasanjo, Abia State Governor Orji Uzor Kalu accused Obasanjo of corruption, listing a number of
dubious deals, including:

--Cancellation of the contract for the construction of the national stadium in Abuja, only to re-award the contract to a different vendor at a higher price.

--Use of public funds for capital improvements at two private schools secretly owned by Obasanjo.

Obasanjo's response was to agree to be "investigated by the EFCC, which reports to the President. When the EFCC invited Kalu to provide evidence to support his accusations, Kalu refused, pointing out that the EFCC was not an independent investigative body and had no authority to prosecute the President, and the investigation died out.

The President's chicken farm in Otta is one of the largest in Nigeria. A Presidential spokesman said in November 2004, in order to explain Obasanjo's personal wealth, that the farm generated about $250,000 per month in income, though it was nearly bankrupt in the late 1990s (ref
A). Regardless of whether the current income figure is accurate, at least some Nigerians think it is unlikely that Obasanjo's military pension and benefits were the sole source of investment for establishing this huge enterprise, valued by a construction engineer involved in the construction at
more than $250 million.

It is also widely believed that the President's inner circle also reaps hefty rewards with impunity. Some frequently cited examples are:

--Edmund Daukoro, recently named Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, was charged in 1994 for embezzling some $47 million as a managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The charges were abandoned, and Daukoro's political career soared when Obasanjo took office in 1999.

--Senator Florence Ita Giwa, indicted for misappropriation of funds by the Idris Kuta Panel in 2000, was pardoned along with other indicted senators, and she was named a special advisor to Obasanjo when she left office.

--The head of the National Airport Management Authority (NAMA), Rochas Okorocha, was caught and dismissed for embezzling about $1 million through an inflated contract; Obasanjo then appointed him as a senior aide, without requiring Okorocha to repay the stolen funds. Okorocha was
eventually fired on July 13 in a cabinet reshuffle, but went on to start a political party for his renewed presidential ambitions.

--The recent auction of oil blocks included some firms bidding,, sometimes with no prior ties to the oil industry, that were linked to Obasanjo associates, including Daukoro, Rivers State governor Peter Odili, Ogun State governor Gbenga Daniel, presidential advisor Andy Uba, presidential
chief of staff Abdullahi Mohammed, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nasir al-Rufai and PDP Board of Trustees Chairman Tony Anenih.

--Anenih was indicted by the National Assembly for the sum of 300 billion Naira (approximately $2.4 billion) missing from Ministry of Works and Housing while he was the minister. The missing money is widely believed to have paid off 2003 elections "expenses," including to Balogun, in addition to
lining his own pockets.

--Minister of Finance Ngozie Okonjo-Iweala is said to have steered contracts to her brother (JonJon) with the help of el-Rufai. The contracts, said to amount to about $50 million, have been paid for consulting work for the Ministry.

--Al-Rufai is at the center of the corruption allegations. Well-known to PolCouns eight year ago, when he was homeless and seeking a loan to import a taxi from the UK, al-Rufai is said to have recently purchased seven upscale properties in a posh Abuja neighborhood. His demolitions of commercial and residential buildings in the capital have reportedly provided an opportunity for himself and several of his friends. After demolishing residential properties in Kubwa, the land was reallocated to several of his friends and to an investment company he allegedly owns. The community of Chika, where about two square miles of development was demolished in December, has allegedly been allocated to the same group of people.

--Chief Olabode George, current PDP National Chairman (Southwest) is a close friend of President Obasanjo and a leading proponent of the Third Term Agenda. He is one of the people accused of financial recklessness in the affairs of the National Port Authority, where he was chairman when the financial scandals were allegedly committed. He was retired from the Navy in the 1990s by the Babangida Administration after serving as military governor of Ondo State from 1987 to 1990 in addition to other military postings.

--Chris Uba, recently appointed to the PDP Board of Trustees, admitted rigging during the 2003 elections and attempted to kidnap the governor of Anambra state to try to collect payments for his efforts. Linked closely to several vigilante groups in the state, he is widely believed to be
responsible for the burning of many state government buildings in Awka, crimes that have yet to be solved.

GenBuhari: [size=18pt]Obasanjo, Beachland Estate And Unbridled Corruption[/size]
By Jide Ayobolu November 1, 2006

President Olusegun Obasanjo since 1999 has said severally that his government will work relentlessly to curb the menace of corruption that has systematically led to the development of underdevelopment. In his maiden speech, president Obasanjo said nothing will be spared in the war against corruption, and that there will be no untouchables. But in the fight against corruption, the president that has presided over the affairs of NNPC since 1999, but has not explained the missing N311billion that should have been paid into the revenue account, and Nigerians are eagerly waiting to know what actually happened to the said amount. Secondly, it was reported that N84billion was missing in NPA, involving a bigwig of the ruling PDP, hence, the EFCC has been lily-livered to make public its findings since, the main dramatis personae is an alter-ego of the president, again, Nigerians want to know what really happened in NPA. Also, where is the N6.4billion that was collected for the controversial presidential library that is adjudged to be illegal?

Also, Chief Dan Etete, who recently came to the country to do some hatchet jobs for the president to smear the integrity and credibility of vice president Atiku Abubakar, in 2002, in some foreign newspapers published a very interesting rapacious and graft story about president Obasanjo, according to Etete, “Obasanjo must not hold the view that Nigeria have very short memory or that they do not care. How does he explain his attempts to dispossess his erstwhile friend, Chief Egunjobi, of the Beach Land Estate? In his first coming as Head of State, he claims he built the estate and on leaving office he took his former friend Chief Egunjobi to court and shamelessly proclaimed that he used the latter as a front. He did not tell the court, as Nigerians wanted to know, how he came by the money to build the estate. The court saw through him and struck out his law suit. Two issues immediately arose from the outcome of this escapade. The first is the serial nature of the activities which we believe reflect Obasanjo’s corruption. Having claimed before a Nigerian law court the Estate belonged to him; he must answer the question as to where he got the resources to build it? His salary and allowances, while in office, are known to Nigerians. The court refused to be deceived and with him unwilling to declare the sources of the finance for the Beach Land Estate, the court made it clear he did not prove he owned the Estate. The other matter arising from this episode is the character of General Obasanjo is a covetous person. He must own what he sees and he sees and likes even if it means illegally dispossessing the rightful owner. It could have been he saw Chief Egunjobi’s beach land estate; he liked it and therefore, wanted it. In his characteristic style, coveted it and Bingo, it had to be his. The only limitation at the time is that he forgot he was no longer Head of State. When it dawned on him, he wondered what to do, he chose the option of litigation, half forgetting there were judges who guard their integrity jealously in Nigeria.” However, Obasanjo has since taken over the ownership of the contentious estate, but the fact remains, where did he get the money to build that massive estate?

In a similar development, a group called Nigeria Anti-corruption Collective has asked the president some very salient questions that bother on his crude acquisitive proclivities of the collective patrimony of the Nigerian people. The posers go thus, who owns Ajaokuta Steel Mills, Delta Steel Complex, Jos Steel Rolling Mills, Oshogbo Machine Tools and Itakpe Iron Ore Company? Who is deceiving whom? Who is the largest shareholder in UBA? Who bought out the shares of Akeem Bello-Osagie and threatened him with arrest and imprisonment? Who was the largest shareholder in First Interstate Bank Ltd, before the merger into Unity Bank? Who owns the majority shares in Virgin Nigeria? Who gave the airline special facilities at the international wings of our airports at the cost of N400million? Why does Virgin Nigeria not pay parking and landing fees and purchase aviation fuel at a discount, while at the same time competing in the same market with other local airlines? Why should one man set up Transcorp, devalue our national assets, obstruct free and fair competition and sell everything to himself and family? If not, why did Transcorp purchase almost the entire NITEL for $750million, when Globacom bidded $1.2billion for the same property? Not too long earlier, Vmobile sold a fraction of its shares for $1.2billion. How could all of NITEL with a vast net worth of digital exchanges, armoured cables, three international gateways, among others, sell for only $750million? This one man operates six farms in six states of the federation. What is the source of the funds for these massive investments? What is the deal between this one man with the owner of Mittal of India? Why the hurry in granting Block 246 to the Indian conglomerate? Is Nigeria for sale?

Apart from the numerous unanswered questions posed by the group above, the following questions have asked Mr. President, who is the real owner of Obajana cement factory? Who is the owner of Eleme Petrochemicals? Who has the largest shares in Arik Air? Why did the government sell the Nigeria Airway Hanger to this airline not through bidding, negotiation? Why did government allocate lucrative international routes to Arik Air even before it bought planes for operation, when other existing airlines doing very in the country were denied such a priviledge? Who are the people that import fuel into the country since 1999? Who has the largest shares in Transcorp? How was NICON HILTON HOTEL Abuja acquired by Transcorp? What is EFCC doing about the Israeli arms deal where some government official made about $100million for themselves? What is EFCC doing about the tokunbo presidential planes that were bought as new? Where is the report into the probe of COJA? Where is the report on Mantu, about he mismanaged the haji N400million funds?

The fact of the matter is that, until this questions are vividly answered we cannot claim to be fighting corruption, this is because, this are cases that concern the president directly and Nigeria wants categorical answers on them. It is also very important to point out that, the EFCC is the creation of the president, he appoints the chairman of the anti-graft body, he approves its funding, also, when cases are to be investigated it gets the nod of the president, in the same token, after investigations are completed, the findings and conclusions are submitted to the president for his perusal, in this type of situation, it becomes very difficult for the EFCC to do a very thorough job, it can not be in any way independent, it does what the president wants it to do, and what the president does not want, it will never do. It is in this regard that, EFCC has been aptly described as a tool in the hands of the president to deal with perceived political enemies in a dirty game of political intrigue and vendetta. And, without missing words, this is what has played out in the last few months with regards to EFCC investigation on the PTDF account, this is because, not only is the report lopsided, it is illogical, incoherent and does not add up. Therefore, it can be said that, the fight against corruption as been politized, which has made nonsense of all the attempts to rid the polity of the deadly scourge.

It is, however, very important that the president answer in full details all the questions asked and in the full glare of the public, in addition to this both public and private investigators should be asked to dig deep into the numerous disturbing and worrisome allegations against the president. The president has always carried on as if he is a saint, but in reality, he is no more than a sanctimonious wog, a lot of lip and eye services have been paid to the issue of corruption in Nigeria. Those who claim to be fighting corruption are more corrupt than those they claim are corrupt, and than this the bane of the country today.

http://www.dawodu.com/ayobolu13.htm

2mch:

This is like putting a monkey in charge of a bag of bananas