Fidel Odum
24 February 2008
opinion
Lagos — Next month's national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will be historic. For the party itself, Nigerians in general and all watchers, this is one event that will either move us two steps backward or redefine the future of the country.
Until a more credible opposition emerges, the PDP is controlling not only the federal government and most of the lower tiers of governments but also, indirectly, the vast resources available for the development of the country.
Press reports indicate that former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a clique loyal to him, particularly a recently unveiled caucus named G-84, remain firmly in control of the party and, in fact, the government machinery. These are stakeholders who love nobody, and certainly not Obasanjo as a person, but their own material interests accruing from party patronage.
Does this baffle us? It appears impossible to de-stool Obasanjo because he is still controls the PDP's resources. What he owns in banks and assets are known only to him and perhaps some family members. But what should trouble many minds is how much he has funnelled into the treasuries of party men and women, trusted friends and business associates. Only one domestic affairs assistant, Anambra's "Doctor" is reportedly a multi-billionaire who spends money as if it is merely piles of paper. He bankrolls so many projects and people in Anambra and across the nation pay unbelievable legal fees for all sorts of mundane matters and at one funeral (of a rich transporter) alone, he doled out N2 million to a family that had piled up a huge fortune long before he was born.
Remembering that one former governor (Saminu Turaki of Jigawa State) revealed how he doled out N10 billion to Obasanjo's third term campaign, multiply this scenario in the states of the federation, especially those who played higher stakes in the Obasanjo administration, and you will begin to have an idea of how powerful the former president remains outside office. President Umar Yar'Adua and the nation have been asking where the $10 billion is putatively invested in the power sector with nothing significant to show. Of course, only one man (Obasanjo himself) knows the answer.
Yet, this is only one sector of the economy. Think of funds that went in the oil and gas, steel, health, education and all other major sectors of the economy and only then can one begin to understand that Obasanjo and his comrades-in-arms have done to Nigeria, and what is more unfortunate, they remain firmly in charge of the country today.
President Yar'Adua is evidently overwhelmed by the what he has discovered in the system-it is doubtful if he will like to contest if the Presidential Election Tribunal orders for fresh polls.
What is more worrisome is things may not go well if the president is perceived be willing ask Obasanjo to give account of his stewardship. This is because all these people who are determined to hold fast to their cuts are poised to crush any serious opposition.
A typical hawkish figure in the Obasanjo gambit is the unsmiling outgoing party chairman, Aamadu Ali, who has carried on in a most reprehensible arrogance of power. Recall the shameless way he cautioned PDP members of the House of Representatives during the Patricia Etteh national disgrace, threatening the honourable members that stern disciplinary action would be taken against any of them who dared work against Etteh. Unfortunately for him, the Integrity Group called his bluff and, in the end, successfully dethroned the hairdresser. But Ali had shamelessly, as party chairman, held meetings with this woman in which he assured her of party support. Where did Ali's confidence come from other than Ota farm, with Obasanjo cockishly pronouncing curses on any legislator who dared to step out of line.
Where did Ali's confidence originate when he recently walked out the nation's No 4 citizen (Speaker Dimeji Bankole) and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, out of the caucus meeting of the PDP? It was Emperor Obasanjo might have prompted him. Now, all considered, who is Ali going abroad to represent? Is it President Yar'Adua or Emperor Obasanjo? Truly, Ali lacks basic finesse and diplomacy required for an ambassador, not to talk of a high posting, and this is why Countries should be wary of a man who has carried on in his country in the most uncharitable manner. Consider that this man was not elected by anybody but only handpicked to serve Obasanjo.
What is about to happen on the March 8 national convention of the PDP is a battle for the soul not of a party but indirectly of the nation. If the Obasanjo-Ali cycle of politicians succeed in installing Dr. Sam Egwu, Ebonyi state's former governor as chairman, and other Obasanjo nominees to critical posts, these new executives will team up with the Obasanjo organisation outside the party (in government and industry) to further colonize
Nigeria for private profit. Nothing will progress and we shall all weep and gnash our teeth for the remaining time of this administration.
President Yar'Adau should bear part of the blame for what is happening now. Justice demands that a former president who arbitrarily exceeded his constitutionally allowed powers and mismanaged most of the nation's earnings should be probed. He cannot carry on arrogantly in the face of all sorts of accusations being levelled against his regime as if we are merely blowing hot air. The man should be reined in. If Obasanjo and what he stands for cannot be checked, then we are suggesting that he is beyond justice. And if so, what is the justification for trying former governors? Are they the only recipients of funds from the federation account? Where are the ministers and the chairmen of parastatals who controlled billions of naira since 1999?
If the PDP allows the Obasanjo-Ali clique to install Egwu with Obasanjo firmly ensconced as BOT chairman, then the third term agenda will have been exhumed. We shall never be able to tell what happened to Nigeria's earnings in the eight years of Obasanjo's rule, not to talk of how to recover any recoverable monies. President Yar'Adau owes Nigeria a duty to commence immediate probe of the former president, and he should use security forces to curtail his present excessive manoeuvres. If he fails, he will live to regret.and God will eventually hold them both responsible for our woes.
The South-east and PDP in general should consider a good hand for the PDP chair. This is why most observers are pointing at former president of the Senate, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim as a ready-made candidate to replace Amadu Ali as chairman. Anyim has prudently avoided public criticism of Obasanjo, perhaps for reason(s) of decency, respect for fellow man. What has made him acceptable to many is his past rebuff of Obasanjo's bullying ways when he was Senate president. Of all the names being peddled in the press, only Chief Anyim, young and progressive like his PDP counterparts in the House and Senate, appears to be the most credible candidate to spearhead the needed drastic reform in the party. Only such a radical transformation of the PDP can bury all the archaic forces now arrayed against the government and people of this country represented by the Obasanjo-Ali mafia. For Yar'Adua, young also and of radical political origin, it is a historic chance to dissociate himself permanently from the old guard.
Odum, a public commentator, wrote from Lagos
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
