Obasanjo Was A Terrible Leader...Former Senate President

A former Senate President, Senator Ameh Ebute, has described the recent stance of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on some national issues, especially as it concerns Buruji Kashamu, as “hypocritical” and “insincere.”

Ebute stated this in an eight-page open letter addressed to the former president which he distributed in Abuja yesterday.

The former Senate President criticised a recent statement where Obasanjo accused the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of making a “wanted drug baron” the leader of the party in the South-west, saying that the person referred to by the ex-president enjoyed a very cordial relationship with him (Obasanjo) before they had some political disagreements after the 2011 elections.

In the words of Ebute, “I wish to recall sir, that when the former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, seized the PDP structure from you in 2008/2009, it was this same ‘drug baron’ whom you aligned with to create a parallel party structure and instituted legal action against the party. It was this same man who secured the court judgment that eventually got your faction of the PDP recognised by the national leadership ahead of the 2011 general election.

“Your daughter, then Senator Iyabo Obasanjo, worked closely with this same Kashamu to protect and defend your sagging and diminishing political interest and relevance in your local turf in the state.

“This was a period when Buruji’s frequent visit to your Abeokuta Hill top residence was always greeted with feasting on bowls of pounded yam and egusi soup! The question is what were you telling your “foreign friends” about this man then?”

On the former president’s criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan’s handling of the economy, Ebute accused Obasanjo of performing below expectations as the country’s president for eight years and that most of the issues he left unattended are now being sorted out by the Jonathan administration.

According to Ebute, “What better definition of impunity can one have than the gale of orchestrated impeachments (some carried out with less than ten legislators in hotel rooms) and serial violations of civil liberties orchestrated by you during your tenure as civilian president?
You will recall that the National Assembly, because of your unrelenting and undemocratic actions, embarked on a process of impeaching you.

“It took the intervention of my humble self and a few other compatriots to save you and keep our nascent democracy on course. For this, you personally thanked me in writing!
Weren’t the Halliburton and Siemens scandals part of your legacies to the nation’s corruption index?  Are you aware that the National ID card project which resulted in the Siemens scandal has been successfully undertaken by the Jonathan administration without any form of under-hand dealings? Didn’t you refuse all pleas to sign the Freedom of Information Bill into law? Which of the poverty and human development indices recorded any improvement while you held sway as Nigerian president for eight years?”

While describing the projects embarked upon by the Obasanjo administration in the power sector as “superficial”, the former Senate president accused the former president of improper planning, leading to a waste of $16 billion dollars in the power sector.

In addition, Ebute wrote: “Prior to your emergence as president and considering your antecedents as a farmer, one would have expected that you would use your position to reduce Nigeria’s huge food import bills, boost food production and help reduce poverty in Nigeria. Alas, you government did absolutely nothing in this critical sector! Rather, you introduced policies that impoverished farmers and increased poverty, hunger and starvation among the populace.”