To Probe The Emperor
By Sonala Olumhense

I WISH to vote with Nigerians who want former President Olusegun Obasanjo probed. The following are 10 of the reasons why.

One: Philosophically, President Obasanjo had claimed that business as usual was over. This was the most outstanding lie in all of his eight years. Business as usual is exactly what we got. He did make progress in a few areas, but none of them is capable of surviving if the foundations upon which they were laid are found to be false.

Two: Politically, only upon the probe of Obasanjo can a meaningful new start be made. Otherwise, there is no present, but Obasanjo's continuation. In that sense, probing Obasanjo is actually in the interest of both the former president, and the current.

Three: Corruption. It is of great significance that President Musa Yar'Adua once promised to carry on the anti-corruption "war" of his predecessor. He has said all the right things so far, but unless we establish exactly what has happened so far, it might be more of a joke to say we are at war.

Four: Our economy. President Obasanjo instituted an "economic reform" agenda that is now being toned down. The privatisation programme is dead, and the government has taken back the oil refineries sold by its predecessor. President Yar'Adua has lamented how his predecessor threw away $10 billion in the power sector - the sector so fundamental to Yar'Adua's economics he said he would declare a state of emergency. When there has been a disaster, the first thing to do is to assess the extent of the damage.

Five: NEEDS. President Obasanjo inaugurated the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy, a "homegrown" reform strategy that was hailed as the last reform scheme we would ever need, and one that he vowed to implement. In spite of all the efforts and resources thrown into it, it did not fulfil a single promise, and after only two years, Obasanjo himself even stopped talking about it. It was never reviewed, never renewed, never remembered.

Six: The unprecedented flood of funds Nigeria enjoyed during Obasanjo's tenure. One component is the Abacha file. In November 2006 in London, the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, said Nigeria had so far recovered $2 billion. Another component: the vast extra oil revenues that came to us as a result of the Iraq war and its aftermath. Yet another: the $1 billion per annum accruing to us following the debt relief agreement with the Paris Club.

Still, we lack drinking water, and good schools and roads. Things are still so bad that Nigeria's elite would rather holiday in Ghana than at home. They continue to send their wives and children abroad for relaxation and education. And abroad remains the destination of choice if they want to die, because they have no reason to trust our hospitals.

The only thing that has been heard of the Abacha funds was early in 2007, when Obasanjo's Finance Minister, Nenadi Usman, said the money had all been given to five Ministries - Power, Works, Health, Education, and Water Resources. I can't wait for Obasanjo to tell us where these projects are, how they were determined, and how they are managing to float on billions of dollars without any Nigerian taking notice. We must find out where all these funds were documented and deployed.

Seven: Obasanjo refused to appoint a Minister for Petroleum Resources because he said he could not find a Nigerian worthy of his trust. Let us hear his testimony about how he ran the place, including the disbursement of countless oil blocks and accounts. One of those accounts is the Petroleum Development Trust Fund that, according to former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the President treated as though it was his personal wallet. Unless we probe Obasanjo, the situation would remain that the man answered to himself, and still does.

Eight: Whatever happened to all those disappearing foreign currency cheques that he said he would personally investigate? I offer four examples.

• In June 2004, he was probing the mismanagement of $100 million federal funds meant for the payment of debts owed our embassies and missions abroad.

• The following month, he alleged that a government agency had tried to defraud his government of about �36m Euros, and said he was penning a memo about it to the Office of the Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit.

• In 2005, he said he was investigating the $10 million cheque his government sent to pay an organisation's membership obligation of only $22,000.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle2563=encodeURIComponent(To Probe Th...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 27.01.2008 08:52

aguabata  Villager

# 2 The inability of the present government to probe the past administration creates a moral burden on their ability to jail all the thieving past governors, to be honest if corruption wont be fought wholly, yaradua should forget about prosecuting past leaders and channel his energy into strategies that may reduce stealing by the current governors(as we are writing some current governors could be concluding money laundering transactions) bearing in mind his flawed election/selection Yaradua could simply look inwards and build a more transparent federal arm which takes the larger chunk of the national budget. imagine if Yaradua succeeds with power generation alone, or build most of the federal roads in your states, more transperancy at the federal level, and come up with a credible anti corruption plan for the current and future leaders, he could end up a hero and pardoned by the masses whom he was imposed on. From all i've read about Yaradua, i think he is an honorable man and more importantly a sensible man, i believe he knows that his election was flawed, and the past executive corrupt, he may find prosecuting past governors hypocritical, I suspect that if the election tribunal doesnt annull his election he may push for a plea bargain for all the thieving governors and let them go, learn from the past, bury the past and try and move on. Posted by aguabata| 27.01.2008 10:56

Enforcer  Villager

# 3 =aguabata;4294984044>The inability of the present government to probe the past administration creates a moral burden on their ability to jail all the thieving past governors, to be honest if corruption wont be fought wholly, yaradua should forget about prosecuting past leaders and channel his energy into strategies that may reduce stealing by the current governors(as we are writing some current governors could be concluding money laundering transactions) bearing in mind his flawed election/selection Yaradua could simply look inwards and build a more transparent federal arm which takes the larger chunk of the national budget. imagine if Yaradua succeeds with power generation alone, or build most of the federal roads in your states, more transperancy at the federal level, and come up with a credible anti corruption plan for the current and future leaders, he could end up a hero and pardoned by the masses whom he was imposed on. From all i've read about Yaradua, i think he is an honorable man and more importantly a sensible man, i believe he knows that his election was flawed, and the past executive corrupt, he may find prosecuting past governors hypocritical, I suspect that if the election tribunal doesnt annull his election he may push for a plea bargain for all the thieving governors and let them go, learn from the past, bury the past and try and move on. aguabata Can someone tell me why all the emphasis is on past governors when we have big time thieves in Customs, Police, Banks, NEPA/Power Holdings, NNPC etc? Posted by Enforcer| 27.01.2008 11:51

NWANZA  Villager

# 4 =Enforcer;4294984049>aguabata Can someone tell me why all the emphasis is on past governors when we have big time thieves in Customs, Police, Banks, NEPA/Power Holdings, NNPC etc? That is the $billion question no one have answered so far. Why are the culprits not being charged with the accused? Who are the conduit pipes used to drain Nigeria dry? Why are corrupt people being rewarded with ambassadorial positions? Is PDP a true to the name Mafia organization? Please start a probe of the past regime from top-to-bottom. Posted by NWANZA| 27.01.2008 15:04

Oguguo Yakere  Villager

# 5 "From all i've read about Yaradua, i think he is an honorable man and more importantly a sensible man, i believe he knows that his election was flawed, and the past executive corrupt, he may find prosecuting past governors hypocritical, I suspect that if the election tribunal doesnt annull his election he may push for a plea bargain for all the thieving governors and let them go, learn from the past, bury the past and try and move on" Agubata, Haba! Are you truly willing to let the past thieves escape with the billions of dollars that they have stacked away? That will be only in Nigeria and that will rightly put us in the Guiness book of life as the most permanently corrupt nation on earth in history. So you believe Yaradus is an honorable man. Man, your standard scares me. I hope that is not the standard of majority or even what can qualify as minority of Nigerians. Let it be known to you and anyone else thinking like you that PRECEDENCE is a phenomenon in governing systems that plays an indelible role. Once you set an example by allowing the kind of humungous crime of stealing by the past leaders to be overlooked unconditionally as I understand you are suggesting, then forget it for now and in the future, because you will have no moral grounds to prosecute anyone who repeats the same. All the unearthened attrocities committed by the PDP and others that operate in their style cannot be let gone like that otherwise Nigeria will be finished for ever and ever. Or it will remain the laughing stock of the world and a place for reference of evil in the midst of plenty. If you disagree with me; then give us examples of similar crimes committed by leaders anywhere that did not face the justice system for correction. And if you have some examples tall us whether or not that indelible mark has limgered on or not to till date to hunt the perpetrators. Yours above is mind bugling, my friend. Pray tell me, are you one of the beneficiaries in any way? Posted by Oguguo Yakere| 28.01.2008 07:02

sammyrob  Villager

# 6 Thank you Olumhense for your 10-point expose on Obj's hypocritical and extremely corrupt regime but, no thanks...sorry to disappoint you, Obj will and can never be probed at least not by this Yar'Adua's Government. First, remember that Yar'Adua is a product of the the very corrupt regime you are asking to be probed. The question is, between the thief and the receiver of stolen goods, is one more guilty than the other? The answer is no! They are both equally guilty. Two, it is said that a house founded on defective foundation cannot stand the test of time. Yar'Adua's Government is an illegitimate one from the begining even by their own admission and so lacks the moral right to probe the regime that brought him to power...illegally. Three, with the kind of men that make up his Government...warped minds like Aondokaa, recycled waste products like Kingibe and other expired and criminally minded FEC members, what good can come out of this type of regime? I want to commend Yar'Adua though for attempting to prosecute the criminally corrupt ex-governors, even though its only to appease "these stubborn Nigerians". At least, there's a movement whether in the right or wrong direction. Its better than standing still. For other corrupt past and present Government and public officers, there will always be a day for the "owner of the house". The day of reckoning will surely come. Until then, lets keep hoping for the best for this country. Posted by sammyrob| 28.01.2008 16:04

ikechukwu  Villager

# 7 UMYA is finding it difficult to probe Obj because anytime he remembers the malicious way he was brought in by Obj he just buries his head in the sand like an ostrich. He is so confused that he has even lost focus on governance, well he never had any in the first place.The day a commission of inquiry would be set up on NNPC I would be suprised if some people would be alive in Ota farms as a result of the accompanying mob action.NNPC, NNPC Ha! THINGS HAPPENED ON THERE O! Posted by ikechukwu| 28.01.2008 17:26