Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has taken former President Muhammadu Buhari to the cleaners, saying the later’s administration was the worst in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Obasanjo made these assertions in the first chapter of his newly released book, Nigeria: Past and Future.
Obasanjo, in the book, accused Buhari for failing to live up to the ideals he once championed as a military ruler in 1983.
He recalled how Buhari justified his coup against the civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari by condemning corruption and electoral malpractice, but said Buhari presided over a government that became the worst in Nigeria’s civil administration.
According to Obasanjo, in 1983 when explaining why the democratically-elected government of the late Alhaji Shehu Shagari was toppled by the military, Gen Buhari (retd) had cited mismanagement of public funds hurting and making the country’s economy to be weak, lack of credible polls, among others as the reason for the military take-over.
He quoted Buhari in the book, saying “The last general election was anything but free and fair…There is ample evidence that rigging and thuggery were relative to the resources available to the political parties.
“This conclusively proved to us that the parties have not developed in the presidential system of government in which the nation invested so much materials and human resources.
“The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last four years have been the source of immorality and impropriety in our society…We deplore corruption in all its facets.”
Obasanjo described the Buhari’s 1983 speech as good, but accused the Daura-born General woefully failing to match his words with actions, even when he had the opportunity to serve the country for eight years as a democratically elected President, his administration was the worst in the nation’s history of civil governance.
He said “Good points and good words which Buhari failed to follow when he became president eleven years later.
“Words are cheap and what needed to be done was left undone during Buhari’s civil administration regime from 2015 to 2023, the worst civil administration regime so far in Nigerian history.
The former President had scathing remarks for some of the officials under the watch of former President Buhari.
Another accusation Obasanjo made against Buhari was making things difficult for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to convict VIPs involved in grand corruption.
He said this difficult task was achieved with the jailing of former governor of Plateau State, Joshua Dariye, for 10 years and his Taraba counterpart, Jolly Nyame for 12 years over N1.126bn and N1.64bn embezzlement of state funds respectively.
Dariye and Nyame were released from the correctional facility in the Kuje council area of the Federal Capital Territory on August 8, 2022, four months after they were granted state pardon.
At a Council of State meeting presided over by former President Buhari in April 2022, Dariye and Nyame were among 159 inmates pardoned.
The two former governors, who were both jailed for fraud, were granted pardon on the grounds of age and ill-health.
Nyame was convicted in 2018 and given 14 years imprisonment for diverting public funds, but his sentence was later reduced to 12 years in 2020, following a ruling by the Supreme Court which affirmed the judgment of the court of appeal on the matter.
Dariye was sentenced to 14 years in prison for N1.126bn fraud, but his jail term was reduced by four years, following a verdict by the Supreme Court affirming an earlier judgment by the appellate court.
Obasanjo Buhari pardoned the duo based on the strong advice of Malami as AGF, adding that Buhari sought the advice of the Council of State to grant the two former governors presidential pardon on health grounds.
“But for my absence at the Council of State meeting when the governors were granted the presidential pardon, I would have rather said that the governors should be released from jail on health grounds and not granted presidential pardon.
“Words circulated later that neither of them had a life-threatening illness; it was all made up.
“It was all part of Malami’s financial shenanigans and he played many of such to his advantage. His principal concurred, condoned, turned a blind eye and a deaf ear and paid lip service to fight corruption while cohabitating comfortably with corruption in multifarious ways.
“I was made to understand that some officials of the EFCC were terribly disappointed, discouraged, downcast and lost the pep in doing their work of fighting corruption as a result of this government action,” Obasanjo said.
He also took on former Buhari’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika which he described as a sore thumb and lamented that the “shameful way the project of a new national carrier for the country was handled by the former aviation minister, Hadi Sirika, said to be a close blood relation of Buhari.
“Hadi Sirika believed that he was fooling Nigerians when after N85 billion had been budgeted for the establishment of Nigeria Air and released, the dishonourable minister reputed to be a close blood relation of Buhari hired an aircraft from Ethiopia Airline, painted it in Nigerian colours and left it as a parting gift to Nigeria and Nigerians.
“Later, he denied having spent N85bn on the project and that, from 2016 to 2023, all of the money voted and budgeted for Nigeria Air was N5bn.
“Where has the money budgeted for the establishment of Nigeria Air gone? Neither the outgoing president nor the incoming president has done enough about it.
“You can do anything, and no matter how atrocious, if you are rightly connected, there will be no consequence. In the circumstances of outgoing and incoming presidents, you can get away with murder unless you do not rightly belong. There are selective justices and selective consequences at best.
“For the Minister of Aviation, it was the most reckless and condemnable audacity, barefaced stealing with the encouragement and condonation of the presidency.
“About 230 million Nigerians were being taken for a ride as if we were all stupid fools. Without consequence, he would get away with his action and others would do worse,” Obasanjo stated.
According to Obasanjo, apart Malami and Sirika, there were many other cohorts of the Buhari administration.
He said Buhari as Head of State made a mistake to cancel the contract for the metro line in Lagos State, which was meticulously negotiated by the then governor of the state, the late Lateef Jakande.
Obasanjo also accused his successor, Yar’Adua, of disregarding the legal counsel and cancelled the concession of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant with the affiliate facility of the Iron Ore Mining Company with Global Steel Holding Ltd.
“The contract would have lawfully become null and void and the government entitled to more than $26 million as damages from the Indian firm.
“This was because the firm appeared unable to pay the first tranche for the Ajaokuta shares before the first anniversary of the agreement (May 25, 2008). This failure would have given Nigeria a right to over $26 million as liquidated damages under Clause 12 of the Ajaokuta Share Purchase Agreement.
“Instead, the Federal Government agreed to part with about $496 million to settle a $5.23bn claim by the Indian firm. It was another waste of resources that could have gone for the provision of infrastructure for Nigeria,” he lamented.
He disclosed further that “With the heavy payment by Nigeria for inappropriate actions of revocation of agreements and contracts by Presidents Buhari and Yar’Adua, there seems to have developed a new industry in Nigeria of local contractors and foreign contractor seeking old contracts and agreements, purchases and transactions that can be unearthed to punch holes in them to make bogus claims with the arbitrator, judge or mediator being procured to join the sharing formula.
“This, I believe, is the case of Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Ltd and Olu Agunloye for Mambilla on which I blew the whistle. Agunloye and his cohorts, for personal aggrandisement, were taking Nigeria for a ride.
“Some families are spuriously appearing for properties developed by governments more than 50 years ago or more acquired, paid for and developed by government and these families are claiming compensation again with the support and collusion of people in government. The government has to be milked dry once the claimants’ mouths are watered. What a people!”
