• OBJ laid poor foundation for INEC in 1999 -Arewa group

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja and  Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo has come under scurrilous attacks from the Presidency over his recent remarks on the leadership of the country.

During the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, Obasanjo had labelled former president Muhammadu Buhari as ‘Baba Go Slow’ and President Bola Tinubu as ‘Emilokan’, attributing Nigeria’s ongoing challenges to their administrations.

He accused the political elite of engaging in ‘state capture’, adding that they manipulate national policies and resources for personal gains. He noted that Nigeria’s failing state status is due to “widespread corruption, poor leadership, and immorality,” under Tinubu.

In their responses, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, and Special Adviser on Public Communications to the President, Sunday Dare, took the former president to the cleaners.

Onanuga, in a statement, said Obasanjo should reflect on his leadership shortcomings rather than offering unsolicited advice.

He criticised Obasanjo’s legacy and highlighted his failure to address critical issues like infrastructure and security during his tenure. Onanuga pointed out that Achebe himself rejected an honour from Obasanjo in 2004, citing, “the prevalence of abuse of power and poor leadership.”

Onanuga emphasised the irony of Obasanjo discussing governance at a forum celebrating Achebe, who had little regard for him.

“A man under whose watch all of these egregious infractions occurred should certainly not be the one to give any lecture on leadership and corruption.”

He said in part: “On matters of integrity, honesty, and morality in public leadership, Obasanjo is certainly not a paragon of virtue for anyone to model after. Nigerians can still remember the messy public spat between Obasanjo and his then vice president, Atiku Abubakar, over Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) that led to a Senate Public Hearing in 2004. The sordid details of the public hearing included unsettling evidence of how Obasanjo instructed his vice president to buy sport utility vehicles for his mistresses with PTDF. There was also the Halliburton bribe scandal, which the US Congress probe revealed. Bribe payments were made to the highest political authorities at the Villa while Obasanjo was in charge.

“Nigerians will also remember how the Obasanjo administration invested $16 billion on electricity, which left the country in utter darkness. The colossal amount spent on power was so embarrassing that the late president Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Obasanjo’s successor, ordered a probe. Similarly, Obasanjo’s privatisation programme was scandalous. It did not deliver real value for the country. His administration cheaply sold national assets to cronies who stripped the assets of the state-owned enterprises. A case in point was the aluminium smelter company, ALSCON, in Ikot-Abasi, Akwa-Ibom State, built by the military government at the princely sum of $3.2 billion. It was sold for $130 million. Obasanjo also sank money into Turn Around Maintenance of our refineries, which never worked, leading to the massive importation of refined petroleum products.

“Such was the miasma of corruption under Obasanjo that the former governor of Abia, Orji Uzor Kalu, his party member, petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, accusing Obasanjo of gross abuse of office.

“If Obasanjo had addressed the many problems he critiqued in his poorly written Yale lecture when he ruled Nigeria for eight years, former president Buhari and President Tinubu would have had a much lighter burden of fixing the country.”

He said instead of casting blame, Obasanjo should use his remaining years to reflect on missed opportunities during his own time in leadership.

“While the Tinubu administration diligently works to overcome the country’s economic challenges, it would be better and more advisable for former president Obasanjo to temper his self-righteousness in his public discussions regarding our nation’s temporary difficulties. Instead, his remaining years would be better spent reflecting on the missed opportunities during his own time in leadership, both as military head of state and civilian president.”

Writing on his X handle, @SundayDareSD, Dare said Obasanjo lacked sincerity and moral authority to make such comments, adding that “democracy suffered mortal wounds under his watch.”

He accused the former president of possessing “a tremendous capacity for mischief,” asserting that his ‘hallucinations’ and misrepresentation of facts were well-documented.

Dare highlighted Obasanjo’s administration as one marred by corruption, referencing the widely criticised $16 billion power project that failed to deliver tangible results.

“There has been no explanation as to how he wasted $16 billion to generate megawatts of darkness across the nation.”

The former minister of Youth and Sports under former president Buhari also accused Obasanjo of undermining democracy during his tenure, citing the failed third-term agenda as evidence of mortal wounds inflicted on the nation’s democratic process.

“Successive administrations,” Dare said: “have faced challenges in addressing governance issues, but President Tinubu is now making progress.

“Democracy suffered mortal wounds under his watch, only capped by his murderous rage for an ill-fated third term. Obasanjo should apologise to Nigerians for not laying the foundational infrastructure Nigeria needed to advance.”

He also dismissed Obasanjo’s anti-corruption stance as pretentious, asserting that Nigerians are not swayed by such claims.

“It is actually laughable that the former president’s pretentiousness about fighting corruption is not cutting any ice in the eyes of the public,” he said.

Citing a Yoruba proverb, Dare emphasised the importance of focusing on substantive progress rather than distractions.

“In this market called Nigeria, the man with the renewed hope agenda is the one that matters,” Dare remarked, referring to President Tinubu’s reforms.

He reiterated Tinubu’s commitment to staying the course and implementing reforms under the Renewed Hope Agenda, aimed at driving Nigeria’s development.

He further called on Obasanjo to reflect on his own contributions to Nigeria’s challenges instead of criticising his successors.

“President Tinubu is now spiritedly battling to put the nation back on the track of development. So, Obasanjo should refrain from undermining current efforts,” Dare said.

He concluded by welcoming Obasanjo’s acknowledgment of hope for Nigeria’s future. “We thank former president Obasanjo for agreeing that ‘Yes, there is hope’. That is the Renewed Hope Agenda President Tinubu is talking about, and it is on track,” Dare posted on his X page.

Also reacting, a northern group, Arewa Think Tank (ATT), expressed displeasure over Obasanjo’s call for the sack of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, saying the former leader should blame himself for laying poor foundation for INEC in 1999 when he presided over the affairs of the country for eight years.

ATT, in a statement by its Convener, Muhammad Alhaji Yakubu,  said: “It is, indeed, unpatriotic for Obasanjo, who admitted during his own period of electoral crisis that not even a saint can conduct credible elections in Nigeria, to now accuse the government of failing in this regard.

“To say the least, Obasanjo’s track record on electoral integrity during his administration is questionable, if history should be kind to Nigeria.

“Obasanjo himself has admitted to having manipulated elections to ensure victory for his preferred candidates.

The late president Yar’Adua even admitted the election that brought him to power was flawed with irregularities. In light of this, it is difficult to take his criticisms of the current government seriously.

“It is, therefore, hypocritical for someone like Obasanjo, who has presided over flawed elections in the past, to now point fingers at others. If actually he cared so much about the integrity of the electoral process, he should reflect on his own past actions and work towards ensuring free and fair elections for all Nigerians.”

ATT recalled with displeasure that for the former president, who once presided over a system riddled with all manners of corruption, whose presidency was characterised by electoral malpractices, his electoral integrity raises pertinent questions about the moral rights he has in criticising contemporary governance.

“Obasanjo’s tenure was a period during which the very foundations of Nigeria’s electoral processes were laid. But it was poorly laid. His administration witnessed elections marred by irregularities, where results were announced even as voters stood in queues.

“For the former president to now label the 2023 elections a ‘travesty’ is not only exaggerated but also a glaring display of inciting citizenry against constituted authority.

“We recalled with sadness and disappointment that Obasanjo’s administration was marred by a manual electoral process, often fraught with inefficiencies and opportunities for manipulation.

“So, his criticisms of the current commission’s reliance on technology, such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System  and the INEC Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV), does not hold water and amounted to a misplaced criticism.

“We are of the strong view that all leaders should prioritise the interests of the citizenry and work towards building a transparent and accountable electoral system for the betterment of our dear country.

“However, ATT wishes to advise the current administration, under President Tinubu, to prioritise the establishment of a transparent and accountable electoral process since there is little or nothing to learn from the past. This has become necessary instead of being subjected to the distractions posed by past leaders who have failed to take responsibility for their actions and inactions.”