Obasanjo deceived, failed Afenifere, AD govs in second term – Osoba

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Olusegun Osoba, has stated that former President Olusegun Obasanjo promised to restructure Nigeria when he sought the support for his re-election for a second term from the Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, and governors on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy.

Osoba stated this in his 341-page memoir: ‘Battlelines: Adventures in Journalism and Politics’ which was published by Diamond Publications Limited, and will be presented to the public next Monday as part of activities marking Osoba’s 80th birthday in Lagos.

The former Ogun State governor said there was no love lost between Obasanjo and governors in the South-West until there was an attempt to impeach him by the Ghali Umar Na’Abba-led House of Representatives in August 2002.

Osoba said the Afenifere and the AD governors opposed the impeachment plot despite their differences with Obasanjo because they felt it could truncate the nation’s re-nascent democracy.

He explained that after the impeachment plot failed, the former president used the opportunity to curry favour with Afenifere.

The AD chieftain said, “It was after this experience that Obasanjo began a frontal attempt to woo the AD governors. He came to Lagos to attend the convocation at the University of Lagos and then invited all the AD governors to a meeting later in the night same day.

“Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Lagos was the contact between us and Obasanjo over the arrangements for the meeting. We met him in the old office of the head of state at Dodan Barracks. The only person who accompanied him to the meeting was the Director of the State Security Service, Col. Kayode Are.

“At the meeting, he directly requested support from all the six AD governors. He said he wanted an understanding between us and himself because he faced some serious challenges that were likely to create some upheaval in the political terrain and in the country at large. Therefore, he wanted an understanding and a working relationship with us.”

Osoba said the group wondered the basis for the collaboration since Obasanjo’s first term was coming to an end.

He noted that the governors said they needed to consult the AD leadership before making any decision.

He said the governor consulted the leader of the Afenifere, late Pa Abraham Adesanya. According to him, after the consultations a meeting was held among the members (Afenifere) in Lagos where conditions for negotiating with Obasanjo to support his second term were agreed upon.

Osoba said Pa Adesanya led a team with the Afenifere charter of demand to Ota, Ogun State, to discuss with Obasanjo.

“The Afenifere and the AD leadership were not going to give their heart and soul to support Obasanjo’s second term ambition without extracting some major political commitments from Obasanjo. A meeting was held in Lagos where the conditions for negotiating with Obasanjo were agreed upon. After the meeting at the home of Pa Adesanya, he led a team with Afenifere charter of demand to Ota to discuss with Obasanjo.

“The delegation to Ota included Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Senator Femi Okurounmu and Dr Cornelius Adebayo. Senator Okurounmu and Dr. Adebayo were mandated to speak on behalf of AD and Afenifere respectively at the meeting with Obasanjo. Chief Adesanya called me and asked me to join them at Obasanjo’s Ota Farm, from my station in Abeokuta

“The conditions presented to Obasanjo, among others were: the restructuring of the Nigerian federation, devolution of power, including moving some items from the exclusive to the concurrent list and ensuring fiscal federalism. Obasanjo was made to agree to organise a credible and transparent national census. We also demanded that the constitution must include merit as a condition that must be followed alongside federal character and quota system in the recruitment to federal positions across the country.

“When all these conditions were tabled before Obasanjo, he assured us that he was satisfied with them and that he clearly identified with them. He explained that he had even started implementing the issue of merit in federal appointments indirectly through the privatisation of many public enterprises which were run for many years without respect for merit.

“On the whole, Obasanjo sounded so eloquent and convincing. At the end of the meeting, we drove to the Gateway Hotel, Ota, where I had arranged dinner for the leaders. It was also the place to debrief ourselves of what we gained from meeting with Obasanjo. Chief Adebanjo was the major speaker.

“I sincerely cannot believe that Obasanjo has become such a changed man,” he said. ‘I am surprised, but happy that he is ready to take fundamental actions to restructure Nigeria in his second term in office.’

“That was the impression most of us took away from the meeting. Consequently, we agreed to support him for the 2003 presidential election. On our part, we decided not to present a presidential candidate for our party in spite of resistance from some Afenifere leaders. It was later that we realised that we had been fooled. Obasanjo merely played along with us and ended up deceiving us by telling our leaders what he knew they wanted to hear, but which didn’t come from his heart.