A mild drama unfolded at a book presentation in
Abuja on Wednesday as former President Olusegun
Obasanjo took on the Oba of Lagos Oba Rilwan Akiolu
over crude oil sales and withholding of allocations for
Lagos State.
Obasanjo, who was the chairman at the presentation
of two books authored by former President of Court of
Appeal and chairman of the Independent Corrupt
Practices Commission (ICPC), Justice Mustapha Akanbi,
disagreed with the Oba who accused him (Obasanjo) of
being an enemy of Lagos State and not making open
the records of Nigeria’s oil sales as he had pledged
before assuming office.
The monarch, who was the chief launcher at the event,
had in his speech claimed that Obasanjo failed to
disclose Nigeria’s crude oil sales when he came to
power despite criticizing the previous governments for
lack of transparency in the country’s crude oil sales.
He also accused the former president of undermining
Lagos State during his tenure by denying it of
statutory allocations, and vowed that PDP will never
win Lagos again.
But in a swift response, Obasanjo told the royal father
that his government was the only one that disclosed
revenue allocations from federal to local government
levels and established the Nigerian Extractive
Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) to address
secrecy in the country’s mineral resources sector.
He said he has no regrets for withholding the
allocations of Lagos State, explaining that the state
was wrong in creating new local governments outside
the constitutional provisions.
“The question of my friendship with Lagos does not
arise. As the president of the country, I must uphold
the constitution and what is right. Lagos broke the
constitution as far as its local government creation was
concerned and I was only doing my work the way I
know how to do it and I have no apology,” he said.
In his speech, Justice Akanbi said Obasanjo never
interfered with the prosecutions of alleged corrupt
individuals throughout his term as chairman of the
anti-graft commission between 2000 and 2005
despite insinuations that the government was involved
in selective prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the Vice President Namadi Sambo has
described Justice Akanbi as an embodiment of
hardwork, dedication, selfless service and above all
justice and fairness.
Two autobiographies: ‘The Story of My Two Worlds:
Challenges, Experience and Achievements’ and ‘A Life
of Service and Grace (Perspective Shared)’, were
presented at the event.
Category: News Published on Wednesday, 26
November 2014 20:32 Written by John Chuks Azu

This people don't Ve a pint of shame in them.
can't they do dat in a parlour out of prying eye and ear

you'll do worst if you're there! maybe Na bante or igbadi you go carry go meet pressure for national TV # Jegudujerautd

sometime you Ve to let the fool show its action

awon baba 70s.....chiorr

Hm

Obj can stop Lagos allocation for illegality but cannot stop Sharia State allocation for same reason. It seems everytime he makes a statement against the president, he receives much more from those he least expected. All is well.