President Olusegun Oba-sanjo yesterday said the talk about his reluctance to vacate office on May 29th when his tenure will expire is borne out of “malice and mischief” as he had made up his mind not to spend the night of May 28th in the Presidential Villa.
Obasanjo while speaking during another edition of his quarterly radio media chat tagged “The President Explains” also added that he would hand-over to any of the presidential candidates who emerges winner of the April polls on May 29th.
�Some people still say that Obasanjo does not want to go when I have said farewell to ECOWAS, AU and I am saying farewell where ever I go. Yet they do not want to see Obasanjo as wanting to go. I am already preparing myself, my body and mind. Somebody looked at me the other day and said �oga, na your body dey here, your mind no dey here�. My body and mind dey here but my body and mind is preparing to be where I will be by May 29. People out of malice and mischief are still saying that elections will not hold, Obasanjo will not go. Yet I am going out almost every day to campaign for my party and raising up the hands of those at the national and state levels who in PDP we want people to vote for. Then those who are saying that Obasanjo does not want to go for what ever reason, need to have their heads examined,� he said.
“Of course, whoever wins the election will be the one that I will handover to. From the beginning of the month of April, ministries and departments will be writing their handing-over notes and whoever wins the elections will get those notes. On the 28th of May, my job is done and I will not even sleep in Aso Villa that day,” he said.
The President who also assured the nation that the April general elections will be credible said his administration has provided all the legal and logistic supports required by the Independent National Electoral Commis-sion (INEC) to conduct a free and fair elections.
Speaking further on the preparation of INEC for the general elections to be free and fair, the President said “the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has gotten all it needs to ensure this. Generally, on the side of INEC, the preparation is right. It has a lot to do for security and integrity of materials and documents and I believe that it is up to that. I am confident that there will be adequate security�.
On the preparations for the general elections, he said �it is the responsibility of all agencies, agents and all Nigerians. Let us make it a duty that we will not leave any stone unturned to ensure credible elections. Everybody must have something to contribute. Once everybody does his duty with the fear of God, we are going to get there. Then of course to plead with politicians. Yes, politics in election is important but Nigeria is more important than each and every one of us. If you go out, either internally or externally, and tear your country apart, you cannot be a good Nigerian�.
Replying those who flayed some of his utterances while on the campaign train of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he said he had only exercised his constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and that some of his statements had been deliberately given different meanings.
He said that the statement he made in Abeokuta that the April elections was ‘a do-or-die affair’ was not a personal expression but one expressed to show PDP’s commitment to the on-going reforms as part of the party’s manifesto that needs to be continued.
�I have freedom of speech. Just as every body else has. I go on the campaign train. Now, these people who are complaining about utterances I say, I am a politician campaigning for my party. What do they say even when they have the priviledge to say things? What utterances did I make? I go to the campaign ground, and as a politician, I say what my party wants to do. I joke, I dance and then you say I cannot say that. When people have freedom to say something, do I not have the same freedom?”, he said.
Speaking further on the need for Nigeria to continue with his administration’s reforms, he said �from what we have seen, we know that Nigerians have accepted the reforms and the reform agenda is now a PDP programme and manifesto. And that is why I said that for the PDP and for Nigeria we must see this as a serious matter of life and death. I did not say for myself. Not for myself but for PDP because the works that PDP has done, we do not want Nigeria to go back again. Nigeria has a chance. And that is why for Nigeria it must be seen as a matter of life and death. People who will continue to build on the foundation and the success that we have achieved must be there�.
“As a child of God, you must believe in the power of God and nothing can happen without the power of God, that is why any weapon fashioned against us by enemies who believe that their weapon will work, their weapon has never worked and I believe so, especially during this period of lent, a period of atonement and seeking and giving forgiveness�, he said.
The President also dismissed insinuations that his administration had used the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to witchhunt political opponents.
“Those who are crying wolf where there is none, have something up their sleeves and we should watch out.
“EFCC is independent to the extent that nobody can direct EFCC. EFCC does its work on allegations, invitations and letters sent to it. Even when allegations was made against me, I sent it to EFCC and ICPC.What they do with it is entirely up to them. And I believe that is entirely how the EFCC does its work. The independence of the EFCC is part and parcel of the law establishing it.
�Annually, EFCC is supposed to report to the National Assembly to say what it has done during the year and then its budget and accounts. EFCC was created to last the period of Obasanjo regime. It is one organization whose work has lifted up the image of Nigeria , that has made Nigeria to move from the bottom in the Corruption Perception Index in the world to about the 18th position with 17 other countries below it.
�Now if you want to destroy such an institution, then good luck. For me, EFCC was not established for any body or group in particular. It was established to deal with the issue of corruption and I believe that the EFCC should continue to deal with the issue of corruption�, he said.
The President also addressed the issues of the unrest in the Niger Delta where militants are taking oil firm workers as hostages and the lingering political crisis in Oyo State where Governor Rashidi Ladoja is pitched against his erstwhile political godfather, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu.
He said the Federal Government has asked that the payment of ransome to hostage-takers in the Niger Delta must be stopped as continuous payment would mean continuos hostage-taking. He also described the problem in the Niger Delta as criminal rather than political.
“This problem in the Niger Delta area is not a political problem but a problem of criminality that is borne out of what people had encouraged in the past. Now, the chicken is coming home to roost. Yes, people need jobs. So we are saying that we will go for massive skill acquisition training. Then, anybody who persists in the act of criminality will have himself to blame because in that case, the stick will come out to play.
�No decent government will encourage criminality. So those who are doing so, who feel that they can score cheap political game are wrong. That is not the way to score political point�, he said.
On hostage-taking and the payment of ransome, he said �I will say to people here. They go and take hostages so that they can get ransome and the ransome they get, when they finish it they take other hostages. We have told people, do not pay ransome because we know what goes on. It is a vicious circle. You pay ransome when they go away and spend the money, they take more hostages and you have to pay another ransome�.
The strained relationship between Adedibu and Ladoja, Obasanjo said the feud between the duo had been resolved.
Speaking on a recent meeting he called in the State House to discuss with the two politicians, Obasanjo said “you would marvel at the camaraderie, at what they said to themselves. I just could not believe the closeness, the friendliness, the brotherliness and what they were saying to themselves. They hugged themselves and promised that they are going to make Oyo State a bastion of peace, harmony and solidarity.”
On whether Adedibu is above the law as nothing has happened since some INEC registration machines were said to have been found in his house in Ibadan, the President said �nobody is above the law. That is absolute nonsense. Not even Obasanjo is above the law. How can anybody be regarded as above the law? What should be found out is where did they put these machines? You can put them here today and put them in another place tomorrow. They can even be transferred. It is a thing for a location�.
Feb252007