Spokesperson for a former head of state, Maj.-
Gen Muhammadu Buhari, Yinka Odumakin, has
described revelations contained in a book
written by former Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai’, about political
events prior to the 2011 elections, as a factual
account.
El- Rufai’, in a yet-to-be released book, is said to
have revealed a plot by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo to dump President Goodluck
Jonathan for Buhari but later changed his mind.
Odumakin told one of our correspondents in a
telephone interview on Sunday, “I have read it.
That is the honest truth. It shows that whenever
Obasanjo takes a position, people should
understand why he is taking the position.
Whenever he is taking a position, he is always
fighting for his personal interest.
“Jonathan backed Daniel faction of the PDP. That
was why Obasanjo made a U-turn and said he
would support Buhari/Okonjo Iweala ticket.”
Also, the National Publicity Secretary of the
Congress for Progressive Change, Mr. Rotimi
Fashakin, described the revelations as a
reflection of the true character of Obasanjo.
Fashakin, who spoke in a telephone interview,
said although he and several others were not
privy to the behind-the-scene dealings at the
time, he was not surprised by Obasanjo’s
behaviour.
He said, “Mallam el-Rufai has opened up on some
very intricate issues, giving us very incisive
details of some behind-the-scene acts that many
of us were not privy to. I was not privy to that, I
didn’t know about that.
“But what Nigerians should understand clearly
and see here playing out is that of who the real
Obasanjo is and has been all his life. I have
always told people that Obasanjo sees the world,
nay Nigeria through a four-sided prism.
“That is, Olusegun Obasanjo one, Aremu
Obasanjo two, Okikiolu Obasanjo three, and
Matthew Obasanjo four. He sees the world
through that four-sided prism so that it is first
about what is in it for me in this thing?
“Before he now sees what is in it for Nigeria. He
has only behaved through to type and you saw
the way he sold the dummy to the AD governors
in 2003 and all of them had to bite the dust for
believing him.
“It is not surprising what Rufai was saying. Thank
God, el-Rufai did not say that Gen. Mohammadu
Buhari bought into that lie that Obasanjo was
trying to sell.
“Because Gen. Buhari knows Obasanjo very well,
and he (Buhari) is the man that believes in the
truth and believes in going about the Nigerian
project in a very clean and decisive manner.
“You need to ask yourself there is a big gap, a
world apart between Gen. Buhari and Obasanjo
in terms of what they stand for.
“Buhari is all through and through a patriot, who
truly loves Nigeria, who is not in this project for
monetary or pecuniary gains but he is in it to be
able to elevate, to be able to emancipate the
Nigerian people.”