Former president Olusegun Onbasanjo yesterday said the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua dismantled structures he had put in place to check and curtail corruption.

He stated that the removal of pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, was the beginning of Yar’Adua’s mistake.

He noted that Yar’Adua had allowed former Delta State governor, James Ibori, to push for the replacement of Ribadu, who he alleged “was poisoned but eventually survived”.

Obasanjo said these in a chat with Thisday.

He, however, expressed regretted the amount of money required in politics nowadays.

“Politics in Nigeria has been dominated by people that have stolen money, that have godfathers or even drug barons, the type we have now at the National Assembly.

“So youths should pool resources to become politically active in order to replace the present crop of leaders and provide better alternatives.

“There must be far reaching reforms to ensure we remove the old order and introduce the new order because Africa is viewed by the Western world as a liability.

“For the eight years I was in power, I tried to reach out to other world leaders using my shuttle diplomacy which attracted positive actions. I campaigned for debt relief which we got and Africa was no longer treated with disdain,” he recalled.