Obasanjo blasts Jonathan again

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

CORRUPTION as a recurring factor in Nigeria
again came under focus on Wednesday with
former President Olusegun Obasanjo rapping the

President Goodluck Jonathan administration and
the National Assembly for promoting corruption
and poor governance.
“For quite some time, the covered and hushed-
up corruption has had its toll on the economy,”
Obasanjo said.
He said the increasing corruption under Jonathan
had damaged the economy, warning that “in the
future, we will have a budget that cannot be
funded.”
“We may have to borrow to pay salaries and
allowances. Revenue allocation to states and
local governments has already drastically
reduced. Capital projects at all levels may have
to be drastically cut or stopped,” he added.
The ex-President spoke in Abuja at the
presentation of books by a former Chairman of
the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Commission, retired Justice
Mustapha Akanbi. Obasanjo was the chairman of
the occasion.
He said, “Nigeria cannot continue to indulge in
disdain of truth, elevation of corruption and
incompetence, reinforcement of failure,
condonation of heinous crimes and celebration of
mediocrity, tribal bigotry, fomenting violence and
anti-democratic practices in states and National
Assembly.
“Corruption in the National Assembly also
includes what they call constituency projects,
which they give to their agents to execute, but
invariably, full payment is made with little or no
job done.
“In all these, if the executive is absolutely above
board, the offending members of the National
Assembly resort to subtle or open threat,
intimidation and blackmail of the executive.”
On the escalating insurgency by the violent
Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Obasanjo said
Jonathan’s delayed understanding of the menace
posed by the group caused the worsening
insecurity in the country.
He said, “Boko Haram is not simply a menace
based on religion or one directed to frustrate
anybody’s political ambition. It is essentially a
socio-economic problem that is tainted with
religion. It is a gargantuan danger to the nation
and to all Nigerians.
“Initially, President Jonathan’s understanding of
Boko Haram phenomenon suffered from wrong
reading and wrong imputation. That is what led
us to where we are today.
“It took even the President more than three years
to appreciate and understand that it is a terrible
mix of poor education or lack of education;
misinterpretation of what Islam and the Quran
teach and stand for, poverty, unemployment,
injustice, drug, gun trafficking, human trafficking,
fallout from Libya, revenge, frustration, struggle
against inequality, imitation of international
terrorism leading to training and part of the
absorption by international terrorist groups and
general poor governance, including corruption. I
have always maintained that the solution to
Boko Haram or any organisation like it lies in the
application of carrot and stick approach.”
However, Obasanjo did not go unchallenged at
the forum as the Oba of Lagos, who was also
the chief launcher of the Akanbi books, Oba
Rilwanu Akiolu, accused Obasanjo of failing to
account for the barrels of crude oil sales despite
boasting he would do so before he came to
power.
Akinolu said Obasanjo, before he assumed the
Presidency in 1999, pledged to ensure
transparency in the Nigerian oil sector “but later
reneged on his promise as the oil sector was
besieged with quantum corruption.”
“Obasanjo failed to address the problems with
the number of crude oil per barrel produced
daily; how many barrels are exported for sale as
well as the use of the proceeds”, the monarch
alleged.
The ex-President fired back that it was during
his tenure that allocation to states became
transparent with the publication of monthly
revenue to the three tiers of government.

He said his government “also worked out
modalities to enthrone accountability and
transparency in the oil sector.”
Vice-Presient Namadi Sambo, who was
represented by his Senior Special Assistant
(Monitoring), Mr. Femi Oladele, commended
Justice Akanbi’s effort on anti-corruption and
commitment to service.
He said by carving a niche for himself in the fight
against graft, the jurist had left indelible
footprints in the sands of time.
In his remarks, Akanbi observed that although
there were allegations of witch – hunt during the
Obasanjo administration, the ex-President never
interfered with his job in the ICPC.


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