---

---

Leadership (Abuja)

Nigeria: I'll Never Probe Obasanjo - Yar'Adua

Golu Timothy

20 May 2008

---

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has said he would not succumb to suffocating pressure to the probe his predecessor, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, because it would amount to waste of time and energy.

Yar'Adua gave reasons why his administration reversed some policies embarked upon by Obasanjo, saying their formulation falls short of the demands of the law.

The president also replied critics who believe he is slow with governance, admonishing them to respect the virtue of patience in whatever they do, so as not to defeat a goal before it is hatched.

The occasion was an exclusive interview which he granted the Financial Times of London at the weekend.

He said his commitment to the rule of law is borne out of his desperate and urgent desire to institutionalise a culture of due process and development for the nation.

Yar'Adua added that it was the push for the rule of law that consumed some of the policies of his predecessor which did not comply with law.

"Many privatisations have taken place in the past. When it comes to the notice of government that a particular privatisation has taken place in violation of existing laws, and other people who have competed now write petitions, government is duty bound to examine that particular transaction and find if they are correct and then take action.

"There is the case of Mittal, Ajaokuta Steel…If the transaction was carried out, in violation of due process, but even then this administration allowed the transaction to go on, until Mittal itself violated the terms of the transactions.

"If you take the asset and then violate the terms of the agreement entered, and this is brought to the attention of government, now government has the duty to look into this and see. If it is established that yes, truly the other party has violated the terms of the agreement, it should just not hold back and sit back, because we want to observe the sanctity of agreements; you observe the sanctity of all agreements entered if they are in conformity with the law and they are being implemented and executed in conformity with the lawful agreement signed. Where there are violations, government is duty-bound when these violations are brought to its attention to look into it and take action," he said.

He added, "I think they should disregard all negative propaganda. When people come to say that the sanctity of contracts is being violated because of a few reversal, let them check case by case. They will find out that in fact, Nigeria now, the efforts the government is making to ensure absolute adherence to the rule of law and to ensure that all contractual agreements and all covenants entered by government according to law are totally and absolutely respected. This has never happened in this country, and in fact it's the greatest challenge the nation is facing."

On the allegations that he is too slow, the president said it is an ignorant allegation concerning how the rule of law principle works, and that one cannot respect the law and at the same time dictate the pace of speed to it.

"I smile, because I know, I have been a governor for eight years; I have also had some challenges to sort out, some problems. Because I know the quality of what you can achieve depends on how you plan a programme. You cannot make major achievements by just trying to rush things.

"The quality of your planning, the quality of your programmes, determines the nature of their achievements…What we have to learn to know is that you cannot achieve anything without planning, and planning is a long-term process. That is why I am saying that we need to produce a national plan to the year 2020."

Yar'Adua, who said he will quit office if the Supreme Court annuls his election, said he is medically fit by all standards to occupy the office of president, and that his health problem is a normal phenomenon which happens to every mortal.

"When I hear these rumours, I always feel more elated, they confirm to me that I am not what those peddling the rumours want to believe I should be - I am an ordinary human being, I am not a super-human being, I don't know one yet, but certainly I'm not one. I am a normal human being who can fall sick, who can recover, who can die, who can have feelings, who can be angered, who can laugh, yes, and who is fit enough to be president, and who can have headaches, and can have fever. You see…all my medical records are in Germany, and I have been going to Germany since 1986, and I do my check-ups in Germany every year. In fact, sometimes every six months, and this has been going on since 1986.

"Now the fact that I'm president today doesn't mean that when I feel there's something that I think is wrong and needs to check I shouldn't go to my doctors, where all my records for the past 22 years are there. It is the most practical thing to do… They know the background of everything about me medically."

Read comments. Write your own.

More News on allAfrica.com

Botswana - Most Peaceful Nation in Sub-Saharan Africa WASHINGTON DC, November 6, 2009 ( ...	Mine Galvanizes Civil Society As if they were going to the races, Emma Musako and Monica ...
Gender Experts to Meet in Kigali Gender focal points from 26 African countries are expected ...	Kenyan Researcher Awarded for Efforts in Fighting Malaria Every time Fredros Okumu spends ...
Timba Increases Shareholding in RTG AFRE Chief Executive Officer Patterson Timba has ...	Manduar Gets New Borehole The Organisation Utting Foundation, The Gambia, a British ...

---