Another round of general elections is due in Nigeria, early next year – 2007. Nigeria, being a nation of over 150 million people, and Africa’s most populous nation, always has ripples and gymnastics, as I would like to describe the events that are unfolding.
Vice President Atiku Abubakar
Accusations have been that the Vice President is corrupt, and should not be allowed to stand as president in next year’s election. Gbenga Obasanjo (President Obasanjo’s son) accused him, as did the President himself. Several such accusations have been floating secretly, and openly.
As at today, Atiku Abubakar has been suspended from the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), for three months, over corruption allegations.
According to the Wikipedia:
On September 18, 2006, Atiku was indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which alleged that he had embezzeled ₦ 71,123,250,000 in campaign funds and made various bribes.
According to ThisDay (a leading daily newspaper in Nigeria): PTDF: Forensic Investigation Indicts Atiku
•VP alleges misappropriation of $555m •Ribadu: His blackmail won’t work
Contrary to Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s claim that his indictment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Federal Government Administrative Panel of Inquiry is a premeditated political action intended to halt his presidential ambition, the report of a forensic investigation into the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has said that he is culpable for the mismanagement of the fund.
The report obtained by THISDAY yesterday entitled: The Report of the Special Audit/Forensic Investigation of Petroleum Technology Devel-opment Fund (PTDF) From 1999 to May 31, 2006, it submitted that the Vice President’s approval for the release of $20m from the treasury and subsequent placement in Trans International Bank without appropriation and approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) was improper and amounted to abuse of office.
According to BBC News: Nigeria vice-president suspended
Mr Abubakar will remain vice-president but his suspension means he will not be eligible to seek the ruling PDP’s presidential nomination.
The simple question that comes to mind is, where was President Obasanjo, the Senate and PDP since 1999. Is it now that 2007 is around the corner that we all suddenly realized that the Vice President is corrupt? I am not, and will not support the VP but whatever is worth doing, is worth doing on time.
I perfectly agree with Chippla:
The upper house of the Nigerian legislature—the Senate—finally decided to probe both Olusegun Obasanjo and Atiku Abubakar for corrupt practices with regard to funds allocated for petroleum technology development. Should both men be found guilty (which would most likely be the case) they should both be impeached. Anything short of that would be a waste of time, a waste of public funds, an insult to people who work hard day and night in Nigeria in order to make a living, and a sanctioning of the presence of miscreants in what ought to be respectable political offices in Nigeria.
As for this statement here, don’t quote me. Quote Orikinla Osinachi of “Nigerian times”:
President Olusegun Obasanjo has always been a spoiler from his village to the State House. And he wants to discredit his deputy to truncate the Presidential ambition of Vice President Atiku Abubakar. But as we all know that the kettle cannot call the pot black.
Kindly share your thoughts here.
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