Calls for the trial of former President Olusegun Obasanjo over alleged corrupt practices swelled across the nation yesterday as different rallies were organised in Abuja and Kaduna by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Coalition of Northern Nigeria Civil Society Organisations, calling on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to prosecute Obasanjo and his daughter, Senator Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly yesterday vowed to go to the root of the ongoing probes and to bring all the culprits to book - assuring that this time the probes would not be business as usual in which reports are swept under the carpet.

Senate president David Mark, who was represented by the chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour, Senator Wilson Ake, gave this assurance when a large crowd of protesters led by the leadership of the NLC, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and civil society organisations stormed the National Assembly demanding the prosecution of Iyabo, who is involved in the N300 million ministry of Health scam and requesting the National Assembly not to allow the reports of the ongoing probes in the National Assembly end up like previous ones.

"We are committed to ensure that the probes do not end up like others in the past. We will ensure that all culprits are brought to book," Mark assured.

The Senate president, who praised the labour unions and civil society organisations for their courage, said it was gratifying for them to join the National Assembly in the fight against corruption and that their action was an encouragement to them to be steadfast.

Rather than being a distraction as the presidency was quoted to have said, Mark said in the probes, the National Assembly wanted to ensure that the condition of the country was reversed and that they had been transparent in all the probes as they have all been done in the open.

Also, speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dimeji Bankole, was represented by the chariman of the House on Labour, Hon. Ado Dogo Audu. Bankole corroborated Mark's statement and added that the law was superior to any individual and that they would do everything to follow the probes to their logical conclusions and ensure that all those found wanting were prosecuted.

Former president of the NLC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who was in attendance requested for the prosecution of Iyabo .

"There was a national broadcast (referring to former president Obasanjo on former Senate president Wabara), today where is Iyabo? Whatever happened to Wabara must happen to Iyabo.

"Senator Wabara was removed from office due to his involvement in a bribe scandal in the Ministry of Education involving the then minister. Iyabo, daughter of former president Olusegun Obasanjo and chairman, Senate Committee on Health, has also been involved in the sharing of the N300 million unspent Ministry of Health funds from the 2007 budget," he said.

Oshiomhole also overtly demanded the probing of Obasanjo when he said, "We are sending messages to tenants in power that if they do not account when in power, they will account when they are out of power. Time does not run out of the people, let the past leaders account now."

Earlier, Comrade Abduwaheed Omar, president of the NLC, had told the federal legislators that they were on a solidarity visit to them because they took it upon themselves to probe corruption.

He said the $16 billion expended on the power sector by Obasanjo must be properly accounted for. He said Obasanjo promised to turn the power situation around in six months, only to squander $16 billion and leave Nigerians in despair and deeper darkness after eight years. From investigations, only 5% of the said amount was used for the sector, he stressed.

Urging the National Assembly, Omar said, "it must not stop in probes. Probes and revelations are not enough, we are demanding the constitution of a judicial commission of inquiry so that all the culprits can be brought to book."

He said it was only when the culprits were brought to book that we could get safe air space, running water in our homes, electricity and so on.

Addressing hundreds of demonstrators, the coalition's spokesperson, Comrade Shehu Sani, said: "We are here today as an opposition against the refusal of the present government to bring Obasanjo and members of his cabinet to book for their stewardship in office from 1999 to 2007."

He said, "Obasanjo's regime was the most corrupt regime in the history of Nigeria," adding, "Our country had never had it so good economically, we had the best of prices of petroleum in the international market, but it has not reflected in the quality of lives of ordinary Nigerians."

The coalition said that there was corruption under every phase of the last administration, from the top to the lowest level, and as such appealed to Nigerians to rise and demand that Obasanjo be brought to justice.

He chided President Umaru Yar'Adua's government, saying, "If Yar'Adua is really interested in fighting corruption, the first thing is to make sure that the vile characters of the Obasanjo Administration are all brought to trial. We cannot fold our arms and see people escape justice in the name of party solidarity, people treated with impunity because of the rule of law. Nigeria has no future under corruption; we also had no future under a government that pays lip service in fighting corruption," Sani concluded.

The procession, which had Obasanjo's image and three boxes purportedly filled with money by the latter, climaxed with throwing of both the image and boxes into Kaduna River along Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway.

The demonstrators, mostly young men and women, who dressed in red attires, chanted songs and cast aspersions on the former president, an indication according to them that Nigerians are not happy with Obasanjo's eight-year presidency.

Meanwhile, the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), yesterday said all those who are indicted by the reports of the ongoing probes at the National Assembly shall be prosecuted without exemption no matter how influential or highly placed they might be.

According to him, the lawlessness, anarchy and excesses of arbitrary use of power by past administrations had also affected President Yar'Adua who "personally suffered the excesses of arbitrary use through the painful and untimely death of his elder brother, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua."

To this effect, Aondoakaa said, the president "chose to return the country to the path of sanity, based on his desire for a Nigeria where no citizen will suffer the violation of rights on account of abuse of power and non-adherence to the rule of law."

It could be recalled that the House of Representatives committee probing the contracts in the power sector had summoned Obasanjo and his ex-deputy, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, to appear before it next Monday and account for their respective roles in the execution of projects in the power sector from 1999 to 2007.

Aondoakaa, who made this declaration while speaking at the 2008 ministerial press briefing in Abuja yesterday, said, "If the anger of Nigerians today was not restrained by the rule of law, those who are championing the war against corruption would be mobbed for their selectivity and for the fact that it now appears they were making all the noise as a diversionary tactic to allow the main corruption to go unnoticed.

"In this vein, gentlemen of the press, my office is monitoring with keen interest the probes that are going on in the National Assembly. Once the reports are completed and forwarded to us, we shall prosecute without exemption all those who are found culpable."

"Let me declare once more that nobody is above the law and so nobody who runs foul of the law will be spared, no matter how highly placed. Whether it's a former or serving public official that is implicated or charged with any criminal wrongdoing, be rest assured that the public interest and the public good will drive the position and response of my office as attorney-general of the federation."

The AGF further noted that records of "abuse of power through unlawful arrest and detentions, unjust and unwarranted impeachments that were upturned by the Supreme Court, flagrant disobedience of court orders and many other violations of the principles of the rule of law by individuals , corporate organisations and government agencies in this country's past are still fresh in our memories."

Meanwhile, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has been stripped of the position of chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following the adoption of the party's contentious 2006 constitution (amended).

This was the highpoint of the report of the Dr. Haliru Bello-led committee that reviewed the recommendations of the Dr. Alex Ekwueme Reconciliation committee that submitted its report yesterday.

This report confirmed LEADERSHIP exclusive story yesterday that Obasanjo would be removed as the party's BOT. Before submitting the report to the national chairman of the PDP, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, the committee chairman who is also the deputy national chairman said that the party's 2006 constitution should be amended and the BOT restored to what the founding fathers had intended it to be.

"Although the committee was thoroughly guided by its terms of reference, as the work progressed, it became more and more obvious that the grievances the way it was being run and the manner in which certain fundamental, but contentious issues were allegedly smuggled into the party constitution in 2006.

"The most controversial is the composition, election of leadership and functions of the Board of Trustees (BOT). The founding fathers had intended that the body was simply advisory, serving as the conscience of the party. But the way things are now, the BOT is synonymous with the party, it is the submission of the Ekwueme Report, which our committee fully endorses, that the 2006 constitution should be amended and the BOT restored to what the founding fathers had intended it to be."

The committee also recommended the scrapping of the title 'Leader,' from the party, noting that "the idea of 'Leader' is an aberration and should not be allowed," adding that the concept is alien to PDP constitution.

The committee which noted that its recommendations, if adopted would form a road map for the party's re-discovery, also proposed the convening of a special convention of the party, not later than the first quarter of 2009.

"For internal democracy to be involved in the exercise, the observance of due process for these amendments will necessitate the holding of a special convention not later than the first quarter of 2009. As for the other recommendations that require only an official fiat, it is our resolve that the National Working Committee (NWC) should act as appropriate," the committee further charged.

The committee report also recommended the resuscitation of the party's Think Tank at the national and state levels. It also proposed the setting up of a legal advisory committee to be comprised of experienced lawyers in the party to advise on legal issues. It also recommended the party reaching out to the civil service to "form a bondage of partnership," noting that a well groomed, well guided and committed civil service is crucial to the realisation of the manifesto.

Responding, national chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor promised that the party would implement the recommendations of the Ekwueme Report.