Simon Ebegbulem
13 June 2008
Lagos — FORMER Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, yesterday, hailed President Umaru Yar'Adua over what he described as his sincerity in handling national issues, urging him to "completely" disassociate himself from the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, so as to achieve his dreams for Nigeria.
He declared that the General Sanni Abacha's reign in office was far better for Nigerians than the eight years Chief Obasanjo spent in office, calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to arrest and prosecute the former President or forget about trying the former governors.
According to him, " the Benis have a parable that when you see a killer, you begin to pray for a thief. The fact is that, when I was in the Senate, I hung Abacha's picture on the wall while that of Obasanjo was on the floor. Nigerians benefited a lot under Abacha than during Obasanjo's. Abacha set up PTF and the roads PTF constructed is what we are still managing today.
"Crude was selling at 9 dollars per barrel under Abacha but under Obasanjo, it was 82 dollars, yet, he did nothing with the money.
There is no road and electricity for eight years. Even after spending $16 billion on power, the country is still in darkness.
So, if you compare Abacha's dictatorship with democracy under Obasanjo, then Abacha is a saint. Where is the money he said he recovered from Abacha?" he queried.
Owie added that "Yar'Adua has impressed me so far with the way and manner he has handled national issues. He has been dismantling all Obasanjo's structures gradually and he should continue so that Nigerians will not insult him after he leaves office. What Yar'Adua has achieved so far is even better than Obasanjo and that is why Nigerians are praying for him.
"But we are appealing to him to prevail on the new EFCC boss, Waziri to prosecute Obasanjo or stop the trial of former Governors.
Nigerians suffered immensely during that administration. A lot of people died along the Benin-Lagos express road because of the state of the road. So it will just be fair for Obasanjo to be invited so that he can explain to Nigerians what he did with our money" he stated.
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