O..b..j.

Gen buhari, if not for the fact that i hate hausas with a passion, i would have commended you for that piece (although copyright). Obasanjo is a thief, like so many other theives in nigeria. but as as ex-preseident, d guy get mouth, wat has other nigeria ex-presidents done for the internationa community, nothing. at least, something good can come out from a bad man

crusifis: Gen buhari, if not for the fact that i hate hausas with a passion, i would have commended you for that piece (although copyright). Obasanjo is a thief, like so many other theives in nigeria. but as as ex-preseident, d guy get mouth, wat has other nigeria ex-presidents done for the internationa community, nothing. at least, something good can come out from a bad man

Wat a wrong person u are!

What A nice move by OBJ. i wish the whole thing succeed.

babs4president: NOOO, Obasanjo is all bt roba & ad it bin he is 4rm advcd country he b wil coolin his leg in jail, n shame 2 us d youth who made noise bt alwys afraid 2 fite by comin out of d street. Do U hear anytin afta d fuel subsidy probe yet d revlation dat cam out of it is enof 2 start revltion. Nigerian youth ar 2 timid bside avin ethnic sentiment. It is shame.

This post is not about a guilty president, corrupt leaders, hatred for past president because they jailed our family for corruption, sectionalism or other names you want to give it. While all these are relevant and important points of discussion, not just on this thread. Thats why people are free to start another thread that reveals all evils committed by our past leaders. I am sure we can all learn from the discussion.

This post is simply about moving Africa forward, who's playing major role and why. Obasanjo is leading the pack and thats why I posted it. I am sure we have other leaders running this kind of show. Please, lets post their contribution here so that we can objectively celebrate them.

[size=18pt]Obasanjo stole 2.4 trillion Naira, says CNPP[/size]

While the controversial N3.5 billion contract scam involving Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello is still yawning for investigation and prosecution, a fresh allegation against her father, former president Olusegun Obasanjo, has surfaced in which he is accused of robbing the country of over $900 billion and N1.4 trillion.

This is contained in a petition by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against the former president.

Anchoring its request for EFCC’s investigation and prosecution of Obasanjo on section 15(5) of the 1999 constitution which stipulates that the state shall abolish corrupt practices and abuse of office, CNPP alleged in its petition that Obasanjo’s clan of “lucrative holdings” runs into billions of dollars and trillions of naira.

The group, made up of opposition political parties in the country, stated that Obasanjo illegally appointed himself minister of petroleum resources contrary to section 147 of the constitution, knowing full well that the oil sector was the cash cow where he and his cronies could have a field day.

“As petroleum minister, the transaction detail was only between himself and the managing director of NNPC. Our investigation shows that between 2000 and 2006, Nigeria lost over $130 billion unaccounted revenue.

“A thorough investigation would crack the secrecy and reveal the wanton billion of dollars that had vanished from the sales books,” the petition reads.

CNPP further alleged that the former president collaborated with two companies employed to handle the four oil refineries in the country to swindle over $1 billion meant for the refineries’ rehabilitation.

“The rehabilitation failed and Nigeria was criminally left at the mercy of international oil market fluctuation as importation of petroleum products became subject of volatility of the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar and prices of oil at world market.

“On this score, we have since confirmed that more than $700 million were misappropriated to enrich Chief Obasanjo and his cronies and to fund his political party, the PDP,” it noted.

The CNPP further stated that in spite of the fact that the companies’ contracts were controversial because they lacked record of specialisation in refinery rehabilitation, Obasanjo “turned a blind eye to the scandal” and the result was that in the twilight of his regime, he sold the refineries to his cronies as scraps.

“In the case of Kaduna refinery, he spent over $200 million to repair it and auctioned it at $106 million.

“Mr Chairman, these monies can easily be located in banks, where Chief Obasanjo used proxies and fanthom names to acquire dominant shares.”

While urging the anti-corruption agency to “exhume the rot in the oil industry,” CNPP asked the commission’s chairman, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, to “study the external firms that audited the account of the NNPC.”

It further claimed that Obasanjo withdrew over N1 trillion “unauthorised and unappropriated by the National Assembly from the NNPC account and the federation account,” adding that it regarded those withdrawals as gross economic and financial crime.

“The Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission severally fought to stem the tide of the withdrawals scourge; as a last resort it had no alternative but to sue the executive.

“This clearly shows that the cost of corruption under Chief Olusegun Obasanjo reached earth-shaking proportions for an arm of government to resort to court process against its principal.

“On account of this face-off, Obasanjo wrote to the Senate requesting for the dismissal of the chairman of RMAFC, Alhaji Hamman Tukur, a dubious requests that was turned down.”

The CNPP further alleged that Obasanjo, in the name of privatisation, sold NITEL to the Investors International Limited (IIL) of London, a company owned by his cronies. But the deal failed because the company was unable to pay 51 per cent shares it bidded to BPE, it said.

“The aftermath of the IIL fiasco was another bizarre fiasco when BPE nominated Dutch company with headquarters at a defunct church house called Pentascope. Pentascope, instead of diligently managing NITEL, reaped of its revenue reserve. In the event NITEL lost N51 billion.”

CNPP also tasked the anti-graft commission to go deeper “to not only recover the price differential and the $160 million paid for dredging Imo River, but possibly revoke the transaction.”

It stated that a total of $7.7 billion was fleeced off to build substations, transmission lines, “and gas pipelines have not taken off, while payment has been made,” adding that the N27 billion medical equipment supply was “over-invoiced and only few of the universities listed to benefit have their equipment installed. We strongly suspect fraud.”

The CNPP finally noted that Obasanjo’s abuse of power and corrupt enrichment were “never exposed in any transaction more than in the acquisition of 200 million shares in Transcorp Plc; for we are aware that out of prison in 1998, the man was going by his own account worth less than 20,000 naira in cash.”

The group then appealed to EFCC not to shirk its mandate as “failure to investigate and prosecute Obasanjo and his cronies and possibly confiscate their illegally acquired properties would send wrong signals and endorse wanton stealing of public assets.

“We shall furnish information and documents as we progress in the investigation and prosecution.”

The petition was signed by Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa for PRP, Chief AC Nwodo for PAC, Malam Mani Ibrahim for ADC, Malam Yunusa S. Tak, William Eziguni and Osita Okechukwu for CNPP.

Meanwhile, in a press statement signed by its national publicity secretary, Osita Okechukwu, CNPP accused President Umaru Yar’Adua of complacency towards the war against corruption.

It stated: “Most importantly, we took into cognisance of the fact that President Umaru Yar’Adua is lukewarm, reticent and reactive, rather than proactive in favour of war against corruption.

“We waited patiently for over six months; the little we observed was reactions to Wilbros scam in Texas, Metropolitan Police found in United Kingdom, Siemens scandal in Germany and Iyabo-gate in Paris.

“None emanated from Nigeria, whilst Mr President is sitting on top of files of monumental corruption.”

http://www.nigerianmuse.com/20071225100551zg/nigeria-watch/official-fraud-watch-towards-fraud-free-governance-in-nigeria/olusegun-obasanjo-stole-2-4-trillion-naira-says-cnpp/

ajanaku2:

...as if you wouldn't be glad if He intends to marry your Mother, Aunts and Sisters all at once...Wouldn't you feel fulfilled and ecstatic if given the opportunity to meet the "Monkey" one-on-one?...to have a handshake and Rapport with him?...He might be a Monkey to you, but I'm fuc.kin' sure He's smarter than your Dad and Uncles put together...richer than your entire Household, Extended Family and all inhabitants of your Hometown put together...You foolish Vegetable! Mumu!

But why can't some certain types of people dialogue with out being verbally abusive? is it communication or mental problem. Can they not learn from well educated people in high positions all over the world especially the developed countries how they deal with queries and answer alleged questions without being abusive or aggressive. WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO!!!!!!!! SHAME!

25 September 2006

[size=18pt]Government of Corruption: Obasanjo and Atiku Must Go![/size]
- For a Working People's Political Alternative Now!
By Peluola Adewale, DSM Executive Committee

When President Olusegun Obasanjo was in Singapore attending IMF/World Bank annual meeting on September 16, his attention should have been fixed on the tumultuous events rocking close by in Taiwan. About 100,000 people had literally taken over the Capital, Taipei, to press their demand for Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to step down over allegation of corruption involving his wife and relations. Earlier, the massive protest in Taipei, which had been on for a week, had twice recorded over 300,000 people on the march. Obasanjo would have been praying against facing such nightmarish experience at home.

Obasanjo and his deputy, Abubakar Atiku, in their mudslinging battle have been able to force open the can of worms of corruption in Aso Rock, the Nigerian seat of power in Abuja. The newspapers are awash with shocking revelations of how the government with much celebrated "anti-corruption crusade" has been looting public resources to fund private concerns of President and Vice-President, satisfy the greed of their friends, relations and even concubines, and award inflated contracts to their companies or cronies.

For instance, Obasanjo and Atiku, whose government, in line with neo-liberal economic reforms has literally abandoned public education, have been diverting public resources by proxy to provide facilities like building, library and buses for their private educational institutions: Bell Secondary School and Bell University, Ota (Obasanjo) and ABTI American University, Yola (Atiku).

Remarkably, more than any other evidence, the continued and effortless buying up of public properties by Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) has confirmed the fact that privatisation policy, the keystone of Obasanjo's economic reforms, is the mother of all corruption. The Transcorp, partly owned by Obasanjo whose 200 million shares in it make him a core investor, was officially launched by the President in July 2005 at the State House, Aso Rock Abuja. The company, which is granted various mouth-watering concessions to ease its pillage of Nigerian economy, has bought at give away prices, in less than two years of existence, public properties like Nicon Hilton Hotel, Nigeria Telecommunication Limited (NITEL), four of choicest oil blocs among others.

It should be recalled that in order to safeguard their profits and privileges, Obasanjo's co-owners of Transcorp morally and financially supported the defeated bid of Obasanjo to elongate his tenure in office beyond 2007 (third term agenda). Earlier in 2003, the elements that constituted Transcorp donated to the campaign fund of Obasanjo under the auspices of Corporate Nigeria.

It is not an oversight that Obasanjo has not mentioned Atiku's exploit as the Chairman of National Council on Privatisation (NCP) which prosecuted the unwholesome privatisation of the nation's patrimony in their first term in the office and through which Atiku converted some public assets to himself and cronies. This is to draw away attention from privatisation as a veritable means of self-enrichment.

Right from the outset, the Obasanjo government has been neck deep in corruption. In the first 6 years of this regime, Nigeria ranked among the most corrupt countries in the World. In order to put up façade of anti-corruption posturing, Obasanjo has sacrificed some of his top government officers. However, it is only the Tafa Balogun, the former police chief that has been successfully prosecuted and jailed, though for less than six months imprisonment for stealing N17billion among others. Nothing is heard of, or done on others after achieving the momentary public relations stunt of "fight against corruption". Obasanjo's household is not equally aboveboard. The President's late wife, Stella, brothers-in-laws along with Atiku and some top government officers were involved in Ikoyi House scandal. Obasanjo made scapegoat out of a minister and swept the rest of the matter under the carpet in order to stem the embarrassment the scandal had brought to his household. Many damning reports seriously indicting Obasanjo's lackeys like Bode George over Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) scandal have been dumped in the dustbin.

This congenital corruption endemic, along with the Obasanjo government's anti-poor, capitalist neo-liberal reforms explains why the poor masses suffer in the midst of abundance. Perhaps more than in any other periods in the annals of Nigeria, the country has amassed fabulous wealth from sales of crude oil alone due to its increasing price. But the very neo-liberal economic reforms that entail privatisation, commercialisation, cuts in social spending, etc provides enabling condition for the rapacious ruling elite to loot the huge but loose resources accrued to the country and transfer the public property to themselves at give-away prices to the detriment of the poor working masses. Thus it is not accidental, as a World Bank report reveals, that one percent Nigerian thieving elite accumulate 80 percent of the oil and natural gas revenue leaving 99 percent of the population to scramble for share out of the remaining 20 percent.

Today, Obasanjo and Atiku are at daggers drawn on who between them will continue to wield influence over the nation's loot after May 2007 elections. Workers and poor masses must not pitch tent with either of the thieving camps. Rather, workers and poor masses should be mobilised by labour and pro-labour/masses organisations for an immediate campaign to chase out both Obasanjo and Atiku out of office. However, such campaign cannot be only limited to fighting corruption and looting. It must be linked with the struggle of the poor working people for a formidable political alternative to wrest power from the parasitic, corrupt ruling elites of all ethnic, religious and capitalist political parties and end anti-poor, corruption-prone neo-liberal capitalist economic reforms.

As we move towards 2007 general elections therefore we propose that the Labour Party, National Conscience Party, Democratic Socialist Movement and other pro-masses organisations should jointly work together to build a formidable pan-Nigerian working peoples' political alternative with a socialist programme which include public ownership of the commanding heights of economy with democratic management and control of the working people themselves. This is to guarantee the planning and implementation of adequate provision of basic needs like education, health care, water, electricity, food, housing, jobs, roads, public transport etc for the vast majority of the people. More importantly, such a political platform must be a party that from day one intervenes, in and out of power, with workers and poor masses in their day to day struggles for improved living standards, against capitalist onslaught and build a powerful mass movement that can completely transform society.