Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has finally confessed his unabashed interest in elongating his tenure that has remained an albatross on his sojourn as president of the country by confessing that not only him but also ‘some state governors also wanted tenure extension.’
Until now, Obasanjo had shamelessly denied an open secret plans by him to extend his stay in office beyond 2007. But in a recent interview, he blamed some state governors of that political era as being the brains behind his third term agenda.
Obasanjo’s confession came during an interview he had with a media personality, Chude Jideonwo.
He also opened up on his time in office and his government’s hypocritical anti-corruption battles.
“The governors, some of them, were doing it for themselves. Because if the president did a third term, they too would have had a chance for a third term,” Obasanjo said while answering a question on his truncated third term bid.
Theliberationnews can recollect that In 2006, a bill to amend the 1999 constitution and extend term limits by another four years was knocked out at the National Assembly.
Ken Nnamani, former Senate President and head of the red chamber at that time declared that lawmakers in the fifth National Assembly, “sacrificed” their legislative careers after ensuring that the controversial third term bid was thrown out by their votes.
Obasanjo said his forte is raising money and not embezzlement but failed to explain the commercialization of Obasanjo Presidential Library that he built with donations from governors and other public officials including government contractors amongst others of that period.
The Balogun of Owu in Abeokuta equally described claims of him attempting to cripple Lagos state economy under then governor Bola Tinubu as “utter nonsense”.
“That is utter nonsense; if he doesn’t know that, he doesn’t know anything… Is that what makes him to own Alphabeta firm?”
Asked whether he was truly vindictive against former Governor of Delta state, James Ibori, Obasanjo said Ibori was investigated and found to have misappropriated over $200 million.
He also accused Ibori of trying to compromise the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission under Nuhu Ridabu with $15 million, but that the money was deposited at CBN as exhibit. Ribadu has just been announced as Security adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
