[url=http://the mews]http://odili.net/news/source/2009/may/31/2.html[/url]

[list]
[li]Obasanjo Used To Sleep, Hold Meetings In My House[/li]

[li] I didn't criticise Atiku; I Only Corrected Him As My Friend[/li]

[li]I Have No Hands Whatsoever In The Running Of Abia State[/li]

[li]How Iwu, Obasanjo Ruined Almost Scuttled 2007 Elections[/li]

[/list]



YOU have remained a controversial or an inconsistent politician, haven't you?

I am not controversial; it is just that I tell people, Nigerians, what some of us are afraid to say. If there is any consistent Nigerian, I think I am the only one in the field today. People say what they cannot do. Everything I have done in my life, I have been consistent.

Most of the people you criticise you end up working with. Is that consistency?

Criticising somebody does not mean he is my enemy. What we are playing is politics. It is only in this country that when you criticise people, people expect you not to greet them when you see them at the airport; people expect you not to visit them. But that is not it. Criticising people shows that I am mature; that no matter who you are, I can criticise you. And that is what life is all about.

Have you mended fences with former President Olusegun Obasanjo?

I have not seen Obasanjo since I left office in 2007. He is not my enemy; he is not my friend. He is a statesman, which I respect. We only disagree, I am not even quarrelling with him. I disagreed with him the way he was doing things when he was president and I have not seen him since he left as President. I have never met him anywhere.

I disagreed with his policies, with the way he governed Nigeria; he made governance to become a joking matter. I disagreed with him on his policies on road, healthcare, as all kinds of things that he set up. I was thinking he was an organised man but I found he wasn't an organised person. I have no personal quarrel with him and I can never.

What of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar?

I didn't say anything against Atiku. It was Airport correspondents, who asked me what did I think about Atiku going to Ota. And I said, well, for me, and for the rest of my life, Atiku is still my friend and a big brother; that whatever he was doing politics, if he had decided to go with Obasanjo, two of them could do their politics; that I would never do politics again with him as long as he was with that man for the rest of my life.

That's what I said. And the next day, his people attacked me and I replied them. Nobody in this country can attack me and go scot-free because we know everybody.

By the way, have you resolved your certificate matter?

I never had any certificate matter. If I had, Obasanjo would have stopped me in 2003. If I had a certificate matter, have I changed my documents from 1999 till today? I went to the best schools you can think about; I went to the Government College, Umuahia and I went to the University of Maiduguri and I completed my degree exams at the Abia State University; I did not complete my degree at Maiduguri. It was the transcript, which Maiduguri gave to the Abia State University.

Out of office, what do you do now?

Run my businesses.

Some people continue to express reservation as to the kind of businessman you are?

In my 25 years of being in business, have you heard me in court, or anybody says I owed him or any bank says I did business with it without paying back? You can never hear things like that because it is not true. Have you seen any individual saying in the process of trading or doing business that I have taken his money? There is nothing like that.

I run businesses that are one of the largest in the country. I used to be the largest importer of rice and sugar like the Dangote Group. I used to sell palm oil, large scale, when Chief (Rufus) Giwa was alive. I sell newsprint; I import all commodities. As I am talking to you now, we have 25,000 metric tones of newsprint off-loading. We sell, manufacture vegetable oil, plastics. Slok is a big conglomerate - we are among the 10 to 20 largest companies in Nigeria. We are not quoted; not everybody wants to be quoted, but we will be quoted some day.

What of the EFCC money laundering matter against you; the court has rejected your plea to drop the 107-count charges against you?

I will not comment on court processes. The matter is still in court of competent jurisdiction. But let me just say this: This house has been here since 1992. Obasanjo used to sleep in this house; he used to come for meetings in this house (his house at Victoria Island, Lagos). If any person will say that this house was not declared, the person must be mad.

I cannot discuss the issue of court process because there are three courts in Nigeria. There is the Federal High Court/State High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court and I will go the full length of the law. So, it is not a problem for me; the Judiciary will sort it out.

All I know is that it sounds stupid for a company that is in assets of over N180 billion - possibly because I am an Igbo man. I have been in business for a long time; I have been in business from the university till today. I have never cheated anybody; I have never done business with anybody that was not paid.

I said I will create jobs for new 5,000 people; and I have just started to do palm plantation in Abia State. In my local government, I have acquired the land since 1998 and I started preparing them to plant palms and it is going to take a lot of employment. I continue bringing in new businesses. Mind you, the Slok Group owns most of the first international banks and international insurance companies in all the West Africa countries. We employ over 13,000 people.

Have you given your successor in government a free hand?

To be honest, since he (Theodore Orji) took over government, I have seen him many times, may be six times, but I have never been to the Government House, Umuahia; never! I have seen him five or six times since he became governor and between him, me and God, I've never asked him how much do you get in your Federation Account or how are you governing. Always, what I have been telling him is, I wish you well; you should succeed.

There are no handouts from him? It was alleged that you still collect money from the government,

How can you say this? When I was in Abia, the highest money I had there was N1.1 billion and it went to N1.4 billion. The salary of the people was closed to N1 billion. What we did in Abia, nobody, except the likes of Orji Kalu, who are groomed in business, can do it. Forget about what anybody says, I am a man who believes in what I can do; I am a man who believes in myself. My lifestyle has not changed.

Before I became governor of Abia, this is where I was living, my office in Apapa has not changed; it is in the same office I have been for over 15 years. Abia was the third poorest state in terms of the Federation Account allocations and for the past two years, I don't know what it gets.

Go and investigate it; I have never discussed or influenced any policy or anybody; I have never discussed anything with him and he has never tabled anything with me. I am a very shy person; I cannot give advice that you did not ask for, I can only give advice that you asked for. When I read people saying all kinds of things, I laugh. In terms of commissioners, I advised on putting one or two commissioners; that's all. I have no hands whatsoever in the running of Abia State; I have never dreamed about it. I am so busy.

Are you supporting him to make his administration work?

I supported him from day one and I will continue to support him for as long as he is working for the people of Abia State. I have to support him; I have no choice than to support him.

Has he impressed you so far?

I will not discuss that in public.

What legacies can you now claim you left?

I brought our state together, built roads in rural roads all over the state. If you go from Obebe to Azumini, I did those roads, not Adolphus Wabara (former Senate President). If you go round to Umunne Ochi to Niomara Nleru, I did those roads. If you go back to Ebem to Akanu Ohafia, I did those roads. If you go from Aba Old Road to Ngwa, I did those roads. I can continue counting; these are long projects.

Aba to Umuahia Road cost me N1.2 billion. When the Federal Ministry of Works came seven years ago, it was costed at N4.9 billion. It is their road; they wanted to do it. A member of the House of Representatives, who happens to come from Issolo, Honourable Nwakanmma, influenced them to do it. They put it in the budget - N4.9 billion - but they never did it. I did the road with N1.2 billion. The greatest problem we had was that most of the federal roads I did, they refused to refund the money and this was because of my disagreement with the Federal Government.

What I went through in eight years in the hands of Obasanjo, if I was a weakling, I would not stand, I would be dead. They can't beat me, let them join me. I have shown leadership that few people from the area I come have shown. I am not interested in money. When I was governor, I would be with Obasanjo. All my businesses are hinged on the NNPC. I run the largest indigenous shipping company in Nigeria - Slok Shipping is the largest marine operator in Nigeria. I have run it for 25 years, that is my major business,  working on joint ventures companies. I've done it for 25 years.

By the way, did you at any time go to Sokoto and apologise for whatever happened in Biafra?

I am very busy for all these rumours. They killed Igbos in northern Nigeria and I went to the late Sultan Maccido and said they should kill us no more because the killing of a millionaire and the killing of somebody who cuts nails is killing; they are both blood. So, (I said) do not kill us anymore; talk to your people, talk to the Emirs so that we should be safe, because if you continue to kill us the people might react and kill them (northerners) back (retaliate). A lot of them live in Aba, Onitsha and Umuahia.

These are all lies, gimmicks. You see, people have played politics the way it is not supposed to be played in this country. I expect Nigerians to have grown up especially our elite. They have no other job; politics is just their job. I employ 13,000 people, I have a job to do and I am very busy to even be hearing rumours.



'I Can't Criticise Yar'Adua Until Next Campaigns Begin'


WHAT has become of your presidential ambition?

I am planning. Very soon you will hear from me. You should expect to hear a message of change,

Are you really serious that you will run? It was said that you were preparing the ground in 2007?

Preparing the ground and I ran for the presidency. When it was a taboo to say you are running for president, I ran. Obasanjo stopped all the governors, it was a taboo to say you were running for president but I ran.

So, you truly want to run?

It takes a workaholic like Orji Kalu to change this system, who wouldn't look at anybody's face, where he wants to know the religion he evolved from. We have to change this place. We only need to have a Nigerian president. Look at my face, I don't know Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba; I stand for the corporate existence of this country.

The PDP national chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, was saying recently that his saddest moment was losing the governorship election to you. How did you take this comment?

I didn't hear him say that. If there are 10 elections in Abia tomorrow he will lose; I will still beat him. So, it cannot be his saddest moment.

I will not discuss Ogbulafor, not because he is chairman of PDP; I am not one of those Igbo who put people down when they are in authority and I am not going to discuss him. When he leaves, come and I will tell you about Ogbulafor.

Who wants you to be president and will support you? Will even the Igbo support you?

The Nigeria masses - from the Sahara to the Atlantic - want Orji Kalu. When you say the Igbo, I feel very uneasy with people who cannibalise me to a sectional leader. I will not be the President of the Igbo. I come from Nigeria; I am a Nigerian, I am not Igbo, I just happen to come from that area; my nationality is Nigeria.

Do you have the support of Ohanaeze Ndigbo?

Ohanaeze endorsed me in 2007 and Ohanaeze will endorse me again because I have all it takes to run for President. I come from a major tribe; I am a Christian and I can fight for it.

How do you look at the mega party talks; do they involve your party, the PPA?

I am not involved in the mega party because I believe what Nigerians need is discipline. I am not involved. I have spoken to Chief Enahoro and Chief Olu Falae that I would not be involved.

Let me tell you, in the whole registered political parties, members are less than 10 million people. The main opposition are more than 150 million Nigerians who belong to no party, and they are the people who can make a change. If the other 150 million Nigerians decide to go to the polls and vote and sustain their votes, we don't need more than that. Anybody can be president of Nigeria.

The problem is that the professionals - bankers, lawyers, activists, all of them - on Election Day, would stay in their homes and not go to vote. How do you want a change? The professionals are influential; you can come to your community and mobilise other professionals and say nobody will rig election there. It has happened in Zimbabwe, Kenya and it just happened in Ghana.

Unless we have free and fair elections, there will be no social and economic development in the country. What this country needs most is somebody who will drive economic development to be able to have a stable economic process. So, professionals can make the difference in the next elections.

What do you make of the proposed electoral reforms?

President Yar'Adua admitted publicly that there was a problem with the process that brought him into office. So, it is for him to address the issue of reform. But as to the extent they want to address it; that is left for the National Assembly. Yar'Adua has sent a Bill; that does not mean that the Bill will not be uttered by the National Assembly. So, the conscience of the nation is the National Assembly. It is left for the legislature to implement the need of their constituencies.

That Yar'Adua has sent a Bill that has fallen short of the people's demand is not for the National Assembly; that is why they are there to correct lapses of the executive. That is the essence of having three arms of government - judiciary, legislature and the executive. It is left for the National Assembly whether they are going to adopt the Uwais panel fully or half way but the point is, the more you delay good electoral process the more you endanger the unity of this country.

What do you think should be done?

We should adopt the Uwais report.

The government wants the President to continue to appoint the INEC chairman, which has become, perhaps, the most controversial aspect of the package. Should the President continue to appoint the INEC chairman?

The President appoints the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Head of the judiciary. . .,

Based on recommendation of the judicial council etc. . .,

That is the paper work, but the President appoints. It's we having integrity. Even if the president does not appoint the person, the President can buy the chairman. It is still there that the President appoints the INEC chairman, but let us keep other avenues in check - things that produce election results. For example, the police must be properly organised, trained for elections; the INEC must be properly organised and politicians must be made to behave themselves and not for them to think that either they win or nothing.

See Ghana, there was a presidential election and nobody was in court because everybody saw that the process that brought Professor Atta Mills was free and fair. There was election in Sierra Leone, and nobody went to court. Only days ago, there was election of Jacob Zuma (in South Africa) and nobody is in court and you even saw a bitter enemy of Zuma like former President Thabo Mbeki there sitting next to him (Zuma).

And you tell me that because I criticised Atiku, I should not go to Atiku's house to eat. I didn't even criticise him; I only corrected him, that, as my friend, he needed to consult me before going to Obasanjo's house.

You have cited fine examples of African countries, which successfully organised free and fair elections. Only weeks ago, we had a governorship rerun for some wards in Ekiti State. What is your reaction to Ekiti?

I think we will have 36 Ekitis in 2011. President Yar'Adua must be ready to appoint 36 Inspectors-General and 36 Deputy Inspectors-General of Police to go and conduct elections for 63 wards. So, we will have 36 Inspectors-General of Police in 2011. That should show you the working of my mind.

Will that stop rigging or writing of figures for votes, or drafting heavily-armed policemen and soldiers to intimidate voters?

I said there are less than two million members of all the political parties; that you (the general electorate) can make the difference. Army, are they not Nigerians? We can stop it if we say, yes, we can.

Who is going to contest against Yar'Adua?

I will contest against him.

Talking about nomination, the PDP has already reserved the ticket for Yar'Adua whether he performed or not,

Let met tell you; everything we live in life is transient and this power can slip. It is going to be a very big fight. The Nigerian people, for the first time, will stand up. You will see Nigerians speaking with one voice. There will be no tongue or where you come from. Nigerians are going to look for a government, which will address the issue of economic prosperity for them in 2011.

Change is coming and if they doubt this change, they will question the unity of this country; they will put the country into chaos. You must defeat me properly for me to accept. I am not like other politicians; I'm ready to go to prison, I'm ready to die. I sacrificed everything when Obasanjo was there. I am not afraid of telling you what you are wrong about. So, we let Obasanjo to go because we wanted him to leave.

Maybe this was why Atiku wanted to go to the PDP,

I am not Atiku; I can't make decisions for him.

What did you have against Atiku talking to Obasanjo?

It was because of my friendship with Atiku, which I said in the newspapers, that this man (Obasanjo) damaged my two banks - Hallmark Bank and Southgate Bank.

You said Atiku is inconsistent, that he has a record of working with you only to abandon you midstream.

Let me tell you; I don't want to discuss Atiku because my mother begged me not to discuss Atiku and I want to keep to that discussion with my mother. She had to fly down here (Lagos) to beg me not to discuss Atiku. Atiku is my friend and we are not quarrelling. I own him a simple thing: I can never quarrel with Atiku; he is married to my sister. He is not my enemy.

Do you feel that Atiku has been damaged politically by his going to Obasanjo?

It is only Atiku that can make that decision. As a person, I know I am preparing to run for the presidency.

Do you think that a South easterner has a chance with the presidency in 2011?

I told you that the next election would know no tongue, colour; where you come from will not be relevant; it will only know who could do the job. The change will be so dramatic that Nigerians will not believe it and you can make the difference by you going to vote.

President Yar'Adua seems to come across as protecting former governors, including you, who are facing charges over money laundering,

No, you are not being fair to President Yar'Adua. I will tell you this, in all my visits to see the President, we never discussed the EFCC. He has not stopped anybody from being arrested; he has not protected anybody. Yar'Adua believes that anybody who has a cross should carry his cross.

Are you satisfied with his style of fighting corruption?

I'm not satisfied; this is why you should make me President and you will see my own system of fighting it. Everybody has his choice.

Are you satisfied with Yar'Adua's performance so far?

I am not going to talk about Yar'Adua's government on the pages of newspapers until when I properly declare to contest the presidency later this year or early next year. I am not going to criticise him because he has given me a channel to discuss everything I am dissatisfied with him and I gave him my word that I would never discuss him on the pages of newspapers. I must defer to the friendship. I am a titleholder in Katsina (the President's hometown); I'm the Maiyakin Katsina and he is the Maitawelle Katsina. I can only discuss him when we will be campaigning and I will tell him his deficiencies and tell Nigerians how I can repair his deficiencies.


'Those With Yar'Adua Today Were With Obasanjo On Third Term'


HOW do you look at our democracy that has made uninterrupted 10 years?

Well, as far as I am concerned, our democracy has failed; Nigeria is a failed nation. Obasanjo put this country into problem that we cannot come out for years. Three days to his going, he merged all ministries. He did all kinds of things that are unbelievable.

It is only in Nigeria that I can see somebody like Obasanjo walking the street possibly because Nigerians are very patient. It is only in Nigeria that you can see a man that caused all the damage and he is still having mouth to say anything. They will tell you it is because I am an Igbo man that is why I am attacking Obasanjo and they will go to tell the Hausa man, 'this is why he cannot attack Yar'Adua.'

Criticism is the beauty of the democratic process. Thabo Mbeki sat with Joseph Zuma and that is a man who wanted to jail Zuma. It is only in Nigeria that people disagree politically or democratically they become enemies. That is something we need to take time to repair. I know that I can criticise you fairly; in the afternoon we can still go and eat.

President Shagari is a democrat to the core. Jim Nwobodo, the late Ambrose Ali, Abubakar Rimi, they were governors not of their parties. Obasanjo brought down the office of governor to nothing. Obasanjo used this corruption gimmick to secure the failed 'Third Term'. People like me knew and that is why we fought him. I put everything I had to fight him not to succeed with 'Third term'.

Some people who are collaborating themselves (with the current government) today are those who wanted Obasanjo forever. I am ashamed of some Nigerian politicians; the way they behave. Some of them said if Obasanjo went away, there would be no Nigeria. Yar'Adua has ruled for two years and Nigeria is still here.

It is like people who said that if Abacha went away there would be no Nigeria. It is the same people, who told Obasanjo that, 'if he goes, there will be no Nigeria.' They are telling Yar'Adua now that if he goes, there will be no Nigeria.

What I expect from President Yar'Adua is to conduct free and fair elections. If he wins, good; and if he loses, good; his name would endure in the history of this country, as a president who looked at the face of Nigerians and said, 'for the first time, we must do it right.' If he doesn't do that, there will be no peace in Nigeria.

You want to tell me that if I spend all my resources, all my hard work, you will go and write results again in one place and I will leave you or be looking at you? That is not going to happen again; there will be trouble; the people will come out into the streets. We don't have guns, we don't have machetes, but we will be in the streets.

People did that for sometime in Ekiti and gave it up.

Yes, they were tired but go and look at what is happening in Thailand; people should take the model. It's because we got our independence so cheaply, we didn't fight for it; this why we can't endure pain. I have gone through pains in this country; I have gone through pains in the hands of Obasanjo

Is Obasanjo responsible for all the inactivity, the total failure, the helplessness, which have seized this country by the jugular?

I suffered so much in the hands of Obasanjo that even when I asked the University of Maiduguri to bring my transcript to the Abia State University, President Obasanjo went to the Vice Chancellor and called the Registrar and tried to induce them with appointment - that they should discard that paper. But the Vice Chancellor was a committed Muslim and he told him, 'no, we cannot do this because we have records; I cannot do anything like this.' This shows you how much Obasanjo pursued me.

Obasanjo created all these problems because if he had given transparent leadership, conducted free and fair elections; we will not be where we are. Obasanjo wanted to be president by making himself the Chairman of (PDP) Board of Trustees. He wanted to still control the Federal Government. That is why we are into this trouble.

Obasanjo fought me when he saw the blueprint I wanted to do with the Israelis. That was the fight between us. Otherwise, Abia could have been another thing. I couldn't borrow money. I didn't borrow any money when I was governor apart from N2 billion we took from Guarantee Trust Bank in eight years and I paid that money before I left. In Abia, I paid salary with resources within the limit of the state.

This is why we are having problem - people who have no idea what government is all about, who think government is about borrowing money. Some of my advisers used to say, 'let's go and borrow' and I would say, 'when you borrow, how do you pay?' The credibility of any businessman (and government) is to borrow and pay. Anybody telling you that government cannot own hotels is not true; government can manage them.

I went to Obasanjo in 1999 with a blueprint and said, 'there are the Israelis; this is what I am going to do. I want to create an Abia that in the next eight years when I am leaving, they will be getting money from their investments.' I never knew that Obasanjo is such a jealous man. That was when he started fighting me. He had planned to be life president. Whenever you sit with him, he will be telling you, 'O, I left Mubarak there; I left Kerekou there; I left Bongo there.

If a man talking to you like this, what is he telling you? He was saying those things to tell you that he made a mistake in leaving (power in 1979). So, from day one of Obasanjo swearing-in as civil President, he had the intention of being a life president. He will come and tell people, 'I didn't want this, I didn't ask for that;' it is the height of deceit.

How do your rate your party, the PPA in the 2011 politics?

To be honest, more Nigerians will join the PPA because it is going to be the only credible party that will be available for them.

What of the AC?

The AC is credible, yes. Bola Tinubu is a democrat.

After Ekiti, it seems no party stands a chance against the PDP. They seem prepared to do anything including writing results,

No, no, no; leave all those things; they will not be able to do it; we will fine-tune our strategy. You think they can but they will not be able to do it. They will not be able to use the police. Police are Nigerians like me; their wives are buying in the same market as my wife; their children are going to suffer in the same schools.

You see the opposition party is not the PPA or the AC; the opposition party are the professionals; we have no middle-class. The professionals should fight and see that we have credible elections. People should come out; one day can make a difference. That Saturday of voting, if you are anywhere, you come out and say, 'today, I am voting'.

The way it is going, and after Ekiti, don't you think even President Yar'Adua and the federal might may not be for free and fair election?

I will give you what I have said before. I am not going to discuss President Yar'Adua in public. Whether the Nigerian people are suffering, the answer is yes; the people are suffering; whether the Nigerian people are not happy, the answer is yes; whether things are going bad, the answer is yes. But I am not going to discuss Yar'Adua; I am going to discuss his policies during election.

I betted with Obasanjo in 2002 when he said I would not be governor again. I said he would not be president. Chief (Tony) Anenih is alive. Chief Anenih told him openly to forget that. This is why when people talk about Chief Anenih, I feel sad. Sometimes, Chief Anenih is a very fair-minded man. Chief Anenih including Atiku told him openly what's your problem. Atiku told him, 'what's your problem in a tiny State like Abia, that you want to derail democracy? This is part of the respect that I have for Chief Anenih. Despite everything every other person will say about him, he confronted Obasanjo there and then.

So, I took a bet with Obasanjo; I told them they don't need to waste their time to debate it. He (Obasanjo) said I should go and pack my things; that I won't be governor again. I said, 'ah, baba, if I am not governor, do you think you'll sit here as president?' He took it like a joke and I gave it back to him like a joke. He said, I should go and look for a party that would make me governor, not PDP. I told that, 'baba, we founded this party when you were in prison.'

So, Chief Anenih, when it became a problem, now through Atiku, all of them, went to talk to him. I said they didn't need to talk to the man; the man was not from Abia. I voted for him, he didn't vote for me. I could not rig election in my state. If I am not popular, they would say it in 2003; I would not come back but I came back stronger.

I must give (Abel) Guobadia (then INEC Chairman) credit; he is a very courageous man. Even when Obasanjo sent for him to go and remove my name as a candidate, he said he would not do it, that he would rather resign. This happened; he sent for him. He ordered him to go and change it, but he said, 'no, no, no, that's the only name I have at INEC and I am not going to change it.' Obasanjo gave him another name, but he refused.

What was the name?

I don't know.

What do you make of Prof. Maurice Iwu, the INEC chairman?

I want Iwu to talk to Nigerians; let him talk to Nigerians because I happen to be around. Let Iwu tell Nigerians what transpired between him and Obasanjo. The election in 2007 was programmed not to happen. Obasanjo had two things in mind. One was for Yar'Adua to die in the process of campaigning. That is the truth.

Secondly, it was for Iwu not to conduct the election. But a few other people internationally, including myself told Iwu that he must conduct the election, otherwise we'd kill him. It is true we threatened his life that he must call the result, even if it was hand-written; call it, let us transit.

So, Iwu is going through a lot of pains in his mind. This is why I want him to talk. He must talk; Iwu owes this nation to tell us the truth. I am not going to say it. I know most of the things - leaving in the planes, ballot boxes in South Africa - it was all programmed for the election to fail.

By bringing ballot papers to my village at 7pm for me to vote - what Obasanjo wanted was for us to start riot. Bola Tinubu and I, we sat on the phone and we said we were not going to cause any problem; that we must transit; we would go and we have gone.

I am praying that Yar'Adua should just be as wise as my grand mother - not to support anybody writing results, so that we can move forward. Once we are able to cross 2011 without hitches, Nigeria would have succeeded in a genuine democratic process.

Return all your stolen money first.

dean2725:

Yes, they were tired but go and look at what is happening in Thailand; people should take the model. It's because we got our independence so cheaply, we didn't fight for it; this why we can't endure pain. I have gone through pains in this country; I have gone through pains in the hands of Obasanjo

I had long been thinking of this too everytime i got stuck thinking what exactly is our problem. May be a hard earned success is much more cherised, protected and nourished wisely than a success earned without clinbing any mt. kilimanjaro.

dean2725:

I want Iwu to talk to Nigerians; let him talk to Nigerians because I happen to be around. Let Iwu tell Nigerians what transpired between him and Obasanjo. The election in 2007 was programmed not to happen. Obasanjo had two things in mind. One was for Yar'Adua to die in the process of campaigning. That is the truth.

Secondly, it was for Iwu not to conduct the election. But a few other people internationally, including myself told Iwu that he must conduct the election, otherwise we'd kill him. It is true we threatened his life that he must call the result, even if it was hand-written; call it, let us transit.

So, Iwu is going through a lot of pains in his mind. This is why I want him to talk. He must talk; Iwu owes this nation to tell us the truth. I am not going to say it. I know most of the things - leaving in the planes, ballot boxes in South Africa - it was all programmed for the election to fail.

By bringing ballot papers to my village at 7pm for me to vote - what Obasanjo wanted was for us to start riot. Bola Tinubu and I, we sat on the phone and we said we were not going to cause any problem; that we must transit; we would go and we have gone.

I am praying that Yar'Adua should just be as wise as my grand mother - not to support anybody writing results, so that we can move forward. Once we are able to cross 2011 without hitches, Nigeria would have succeeded in a genuine democratic process.

A lot of shits happen sha! Was it not the same Obasanjo that was defending Ya'ardua when people were complaining about the state of health of Ya'ardua during of the campaign before 2007 election that yar'daua was healthy. He said Yar'dua had been travelling from one state to another tirelessly campaigning, that how could an unhealthy man do that.

as far as I dey concerned Kalu 2 dey run im mouth
>>>>>>> when yawa gas 4 am, i no dey there oooo!!!!!!!!!

The professionals should fight and see that we have credible elections. People should come out; one day can make a difference. That Saturday of voting, if you are anywhere, you come out and say, today, I am voting.

what a deluded man , as if mere voting counts in Nigeria.

ode remo:

what a deluded man , as if mere voting counts in Nigeria.

Thats one of the problems and if that is corrected- even if that will not solve the electoral fraud completely-there will be change atleast.

May God saves us from all these "chop me i chop you" politicians

Well if this guy is not saying the truth i don't think he will mention all those names as he did.
One thing is for sure OBJ is not a good man and he don't want to leave Aso Rock.

God help us many things are agaisnt ordinary citizens like us.