PRESIDENCY ACCUSES OBASANJO OF MASTERMINDING REMOVAL OF FIVE GOVERNORS FROM OFFICE
PRESIDENCY
ACCUSES OBASANJO OF MASTERMINDING REMOVAL OF FIVE GOVERNORS FROM OFFICE
File photo of
President Muhammadu Buhari and Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
The Buhari administration on Sunday stepped up its
attacks against former President Olusegun Obasanjo, accusing him of
masterminding illegal ouster of at least five governors in the 2000s.
Garba
Shehu, a presidential spokesperson, said in a Sunday evening essay to
PREMIUM TIMES that Mr Obasanjo’s tenure, 1999-2007, represented the dark days
of Nigeria’s democracy due to a slew of assaults on the constitution.
He argued
that President Muhammadu Buhari has painstaking followed the Nigerian
constitution since he assumed office in 2015.
Mr Shehu
accused the former president of deploying federal machinery to remove
ex-governors Joshua Dariye, Rashidi Ladoja, Peter Obi, Chris Ngige and Ayo
Fayose from office. The politicians were governors of Plateau, Oyo, Anambra,
Anambra and Ekiti, respectively.
“When they
ran the government at the centre, the opposition PDP showed aptitude in only
one thing: the toppling of elected state governments using the police and
secret service under their control,” Mr Shehu said.
He gave
account of how Mr Obasanjo allegedly perpetrated the alleged constitutional
infractions.
“A
five-man legislature met at 6:00 am and “impeached” Governor Dariye
in Plateau; 18 members out of 32 removed Governor Ladoja of Oyo from office; in
Anambra, APGA’s Governor Obi was equally impeached at 5:00 a.m. by
members who did not meet the two-thirds required by the constitution.
“His
offence was that he refused to inflate the state’s budget. The lawmakers had
reportedly met with representatives of the President in Asaba , Delta State and
then accompanied to Awka by heavy security provided by the police
Mobile Unit. The PDP President at that time had reportedly told Obi to forget
re-election in 2007 if he did not join the PDP because he (the President) would
not support a non-PDP member.
“In Ekiti,
Governor Fayose in his first term faced allegations of financial corruption and
murder. Following the failure to heed the instruction of the presidency to
impeach only Fayose and spare the deputy, Madam Olujimi, now a senator, the PDP
President declared that there was a breakdown of law and order in the state
and declared a state of emergency.
“He
appointed Brig-Gen. Adetunji Olurin (rtd) as the sole administrator of the state
on October 19, 2006. In an earlier incident in Anambra, it took an insider
collaboration to thwart the unseating of Governor Ngige by a powerful thug
sponsored by the PDP administration.
“The parliament at the centre seized the law-making powers of the Rivers State
House of Assembly as a way to save Governor Rotimi Amaechi, the then chairman
of the Nigerian Governors Forum from impeachment by the PDP presidency. Thank
God for Buhari, none of these absurdities has happened under his watch but the
PDP is indicating their boredom with his meticulous observance of the
constitution by calling for a return to the old order,” the spokesperson said.
Mr Shehu
condemned the PDP, despite its own history, for having the effrontery to write
to the UN with allegations of constitutional breaches against Mr Buhari.
“I not for
“dry eyes,” as said in our common parlance, what is it that would push this
party to write a letter to the United Nations, laying false claims to
constitutionality and alleging that democracy is presently under threat?” Mr
Shehu said.
Mr Shehu’s
statement marks the latest attack in the escalating political feud between his
principal and Mr Obasanjo. Last week, Mr Buhari accused Mr
Obasanjo of squandering $16 billion earmarked for power
projects without noticeable impact.
Mr
Obasanjo fired back at the president, describing him as
“ignorant” for accusing him over a matter for which he had been
repeatedly cleared by several investigative panels.
The
face-off stemmed from an open letter written by Mr Obasanjo in January, warning
Mr Buhari not to run for re-election in 2019 or risk being disgraced out of
office.
The
president has rejected all calls for him to stand down in 2019 largely due to
his failing health, including those from former military ruler Ibrahim
Babangida. He had spent more than 172 days receiving medical treatment abroad,
a record for any Nigerian president in history, according to the International
Centre for Investigative Reporting, ICIR.
A
spokesperson for Mr Obasanjo did not immediately return PREMIUM TIMES’ requests
for comments.
The PDP
dismissed Mr Shehu’s statement as a distraction that will end up working
against his principal’s interest.
“All these
assaults and blame games on past leaders will not help them to win re-election
in 2019,” the opposition party’s spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, told PREMIUM
TIMES by telephone Sunday night.
He wondered when the Buhari administration suddenly woke up to the reality of
alleged transgressions on the party of Mr Obasanjo, a man they had courted
since 2015 when then-candidate Buhari first sought his support to win.
Mr
Obasanjo supported Mr Buhari’s campaign in 2015, using several political
attacks to weaken then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
“As at May
2017, what was their position on President Obasanjo?” Mr Ologbondiyan asked
rhetorically.
Mr
Obasanjo left the PDP in 2014 and has continued to dissociate himself from the
opposition party.
He cited Mr Buhari’s circumvention
of National Assembly in the purchase of military aircraft
earlier this year as one of the president’s blatant disregard for the
Constitution.
“President
Buhari has acted in several ways that portray our democracy like a military
regime,” Mr Ologbondiyan said. “He paid for the super tucanos without the
approval of the National Assembly.”
“Only a
few days ago, he boasted that if he had his way, he will lock all the
politicians in jail,” that is a statement that is clearly anti-democratic. “In
a democratic system, an accused person is innocent until proven guilty.”