Obasanjo Will Go Back To Jail, Tinubu Predicts

The House of Representatives Power and Steel Committee is probing how the Obasanjo administration spent $16 billion on the sector between 1999 and 2007, with several serving and former government officials testifying that he approved the contracts which did not deliver stable electricity.

Tinubu alleged at a public presentation of Ben Nwabueze’s latest books in Lagos on Thursday that “Obasanjo is electorally corrupt, and materially corrupt. No one is as guilty as Obasanjo. He had the opportunity to move from zero to hero, but has moved from hero to zero. He has served a second term in government and therefore deserves a second term in jail.”

Obasanjo was imprisoned by the late Sani Abacha over a coup plot.

The book launch was witnessed by prominent politicians who used it to x-ray national problems.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who came with a retinue of supporters, said he is willing to testify before the probe panel, but has not been invited yet.

He described the testimonies as “very shocking revelations,” and warned that the apathy and cynicism that have crept into the country’s psyche in the past few years as a result of misery are dangerous signs.

“Our country is passing through the most critical phase right now, and it is the most critical phase because Nigeria has never been as rich as it is now, yet Nigerians have never been as miserable. The level of apathy and cynicism this has elicited amongst the people is very dangerous,” Atiku stated.

The books are titled How President Obasanjo Subverted the Rule of Law and Democracy; How President Obasanjo Subverted Nigeria’s Federal System; and The Judiciary as Third Estate of the Realm.

Nwabueze expressed sadness at the state of the Nigerian nation, and the political subversion that has plagued it, urging the people to evolve an ethic of resistance and civil disobedience to unpopular policies if their rights are not to be trampled upon by leaders who soon become dictators.

His words: “The rot in Nigeria has sunk too deep, and nothing short of a people’s revolution can change the situation. Only blood can cleanse the rot in Nigeria.”

Those present at the ceremony also included former Defence Minister, Theophilus Danjuma, who said ‘revolution’ is a weighty word and asked Nigerians not to pray for it, because “the first casualties of a revolution are the sons of that revolution.”

But he applauded Nwabueze for his ability to record history, adding: “One of the problems we have in this country is amnesia – we forget our history very quickly.”

Also present were former Governors, James Ibori (Delta), Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Segun Osoba (Ogun), Orji Uzor Kalu (Abia), and Chris Ngige (Anambra) – as well as G.O.K. Ajayi, Ricky Tafa, Itse Sagay, Yemi Osibajo, Lai Mohammed, and Nigeria Bar Association President Olisa Agbakoba.