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30/09/05, Isaac Umunna
The spat between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy Atiku
Abubakar spills into the public, heating up the political landscape in
Nigeria.
The frosty relationship between President Olusegun Obasanjo and his
deputy Atiku Abubakar finally exploded into a public scandal when Atiku
on August 22 inadvertently provoked his boss with his utterances in an
interview he granted a leading Nigerian newspaper. Asked a question
relating to Obasanjo's alleged plot to amend the Nigerian Constitution
to enable him extend his tenure when he exhausts his maximum two four-
year terms in May 2007, Atiku replied: "I have discussed with Mr.
President, he had sworn to me on one-to-one that he is not going to
stay beyond 2007."
Answering another question on Obasanjo's ordeal in the hands of late
military tyrant General Sani Abacha, the vice president spoke of how he
saved Obasanjo's life by giving him advance information which enabled
him to reject a potentially lethal injection while in prison over a
phantom coup. Atiku's mentor, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, chief of
staff to Obasanjo when the latter was military ruler from 1976-79, is
believed to have died from a similar injection while in jail for the
alleged coup against Abacha.
Obasanjo did not take kindly to the statements. Speaking six days
later, he used his monthly interactive network television programme to
accuse Atiku of deliberate "misrepresentation, misinformation and
mispresentation." He denied ever swearing before the vice president
that he would extend his tenure beyond 2007, insisting that he did not
have to swear to anybody since he had already taken a public oath to
respect and defend the country's constitution, (meaning he does not
intend to stay beyond 2007).
Obasanjo also accused Atiku of refusing to swear an oath when he
confronted him with "proven cases of disloyalty." He did not, however,
disclose the nature of the disloyalty, thereby fuelling speculations
that it may have to do with a refusal to support the president's
purported sit-tight plan.
On his narrow escape from death in the hands of Abacha, Obasanjo
said: "The vice president also said that I wept when somebody gave me
injection. That can't be true... My doctor, Dr. Ajuwon, advised that I
should insist that he was the one who would take my blood sample. He
gave them my blood sample and they promised to bring the result in 24
hours. Till today they have not."
Atiku's presidential ambition is an open secret and his seeming
impatience to realise it is believed to be at the heart of his problems
with his boss, a man who is legendary for his temper. One of the few
power brokers in the country who made Obasanjo, straight out of prison
and lacking a political platform, president in 1999, Atiku had hoped
that the former military ruler would quit the stage after serving only
one term. He had good reason to expect such to happen, considering
Obasanjo's reputation as the first of two Nigerian military dictators
who voluntarily relinquished power to civilians. Besides, as a close
friend of the iconic former South African President Nelson Mandela,
Obasanjo, it was thought, would be contented with a single term of four
years, which he was expected to use to lay a solid foundation for
democracy to thrive in view of the vicious power struggle among the
various ethnic groups in the country.
Obasanjo's refusal to do as expected initially robbed him of the
support of the ruling clique in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in
the run-up to the party primaries for the 2003 presidential polls. The
retired army general had to literarily beg Atiku, who was firmly in
control of the party machinery, to rally support for his second term
bid. The Nigerian leader, who has yet to forgive the former Customs
officer for the indignities to which he allegedly subjected him on that
occasion, has since decided that Atiku won't succeed him.
As part of his game plan, Obasanjo saw to the dismantling of Atiku's
presidential campaign organisation. He also greatly whittled down the
Vice President's powers, even assuming the power to approve and sack
his personal aides anytime it pleases him to do so. Obasanjo has
equally made strenuous efforts to dismantle the original PDP structure
fiercely loyal to Atiku and install his acolytes instead. But that has
worked only partially, with Atiku's Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM),
which he inherited from Yar'Adua and which is believed to be the
backbone of the PDP, retaining some influence in the ruling party.
Thanks to the PDM's enduring relevance in the PDP, the vice president
has neither been impeached, forced to resign nor even sanctioned by the
party, as was vigorously canvassed by party and government officials
loyal to Obasanjo. The PDP's highest advisory organ, the National
Executive Council, which met on September 9, did not even list the
matter for discussion becau
se of what one party chieftain described as its "highly sensitive
nature." According to him, "We felt that listing the Obasanjo-Atiku
feud would destabilise the meeting."
Tension was palpable at the meeting held under unprecedented security
cover. Over 2,000 policemen, soldiers and operatives of the State
Security Service swarmed the venue (the PDP national secretariat in
Abuja), while a police helicopter intermittently hovered overhead.
After heated debate and horse-trading, the meeting, attended by party
leaders and 18 state governors, decided to explore ways to reconcile
Obasanjo and Atiku, both of whom were present. Additional efforts in
this direction are reportedly being made by neutral parties, among them
two former Heads of State Yakubu Gowon and Shehu Shagari.
Nigerians have been indignant over the feud, which they see as an
unnecessary distraction at a time the government ought to focus on the
country's worsening economic situation. Lavishly blessed by nature and
the world's sixth largest oil producer, Nigeria remains firmly in the
grip of poverty despite the windfall accruing from the steep rise in
crude oil price. Just last two months, the administration increased
domestic fuel prices for the tenth time in six years and has refused to
reverse the increases despite nationwide protests coordinated by labour
and its civil society allies. One newspaper editorial captured the
public mood over the presidential wrangling when it described it as "a
most regrettable distraction from the pressing job of managing the
affairs of our country." According to the editorial, "This is even more
so that the matters at stake are clearly of personal interest and have
nothing to do with governance, public policy, or the welfare of the
governed. We c
ondemn this behaviour at the highest level of government; it is most
unacceptable to the Nigerian electorate."
Regretting that "every other matter of state is now consigned to the
backburner," the paper observed: "Nigerians groan from the multiple
financial cost of a new increase in the price of fuel, they ponder with
nowhere to turn for succour about the impending sack of tens of
thousands from the civil service, and yearn, but with no help in sight,
for protection from threats to their lives and their property.
It observed, nonetheless, that "this is understandable in its proper
context. Ensconced in the rarefied environment of Aso Rock, our leaders
are far removed from other realities; they hardly grasp the real issues
that matter to the people of Nigeria."
To further soil the image of the administration, its presumed gains in
its anti-corruption war appear under threat from scandals linked to the
president and his deputy, as well as several state governors. Governor
Orji Uzor Kalu of Abia State in the southeast, splashed mud on Obasanjo
by pointedly accusing him of corrupt practices. In a personal letter he
wrote to the president, Kalu, one of the 14 governors currently being
tried by the Code of Conduct Bureau for operating foreign accounts in
contravention of Nigerian laws, accused Obasanjo of equally operating
foreign bank accounts and using public money to fund his Bell chain of
schools, which is currently building a university.
Kalu's letter, dated August 22 and titled Working For Posterity to
Judge Us, rattled Obasanjo, who forwarded it to the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt and
other Practices Commission (ICPC), requesting them to investigate
the "wide and wild," allegations against him. The EFCC, which publicly
accepted the challenge, later confessed that it had met a brickwall.
Although it had spoken to the president, it was still awaiting Kalu to
send proof of his allegations.
Allegations of corrupt practices leveled against Vice President Atiku
and his family have similarly not been probed by the two anti-graft
agencies despite sensational reports about them in the media. Atiku is
alleged to have bought a $2 million dollar mansion in Potomac,
Maryland, USA, on December 1, 2000, one-and-a-half years after being
sworn in. The mansion and the vice president have recurred in the news
like a bad penny since the house was raided August 3 by officers of the
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) in connection with allegations
of corruption against US Congressman William Jefferson, said to be a
business partner of Atiku.
Away from America, Nigeria's image as a haven of corruption has also
been making news in Britain. On September 15, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha,
governor of Bayelsa State in the impoverished but oil rich Niger Delta
region, was arrested by London police after a million pounds in cash
was found in his house. Detained for two days, the self-styled Governor-
General of the Ijaw Nation (Nigeria's fourth largest ethnic group and
the dominant nationality in the Niger Delta) was charged to court for
money laundering. Released on bail, he is barred from leaving Britain
till the case is concluded next month.
Viewed from the perspective of the events of the past few months,
analysts say it is no surprise that Nigeria, which marks 45 years of
independence from Britain on October 1, continues to witness arrested
development.
October 2005
PETER W.VAKUNTA
DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH AND ITALIAN
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN MADISON
602 VAN HISE HALL
1220 LINDEN DRIVE
MADISON WI 53706-1525
U.S.A
Office 608 262 4067
Home 608 422 6089
Cell 608 381 0407
"The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but the mouth of the wise man is
in his heart."
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
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