Obj's crumbling cookie

Obj's crumbling cookie

The chicken might have commenced a decisive and dangerous move towards its roost for former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo over his activities in office. Very reliable sources available to Saturday Sun is indicative of a pointer that the ghost of the third term agenda of the ex-president has continued to lurk in the shadows waiting to claim victims.

The latest of the outcomes of the unsettled dusts of the third term is the directive of the presidency to former domestic aide of Obasanjo, Mr. Andy Uba to clear himself with security agencies over the allegation by former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Saminu Turaki that Uba was privy to money he (Turaki) dispensed to lubricate the wheels of Obasanjo’s third term project. Saturday Sun got this fact from a very reliable presidency source.

After Turaki dropped the bombshell, the media was awash the following day with denials from Andy Uba of having any deals with Turaki in any form or especially in respect of the over N10bn the ex-governor disbursed to Obasanjo’s project through his aide.
In the same vein, the EFCC also joined the fray by stating that no such money was given by Turaki to Andy Uba.

But the presidency feels otherwise on the matter. The stance is that the allegation is too weighty to be shoved aside as mere rant of a man in deep mess. It also feels, according to our source that it should not have been the duty of the EFCC to defend that allegation by Turaki as the accuser never in any form linked EFCC with the handover of the money.

As a result Uba may be required to explain in details to law enforcement officers whatever link he had with the allegation, and when that becomes the situation, the next scenario is that some hidden facts of the funding of the third term monster would come to the surface and that might constitute a very dangerous encroachment on the seeming out-of-trouble posture of the former president and his activities.

Meanwhile, as this drama is about unfolding, more pressure continues to mount on the President Umar Yar’Adua administration to probe Obasanjo’s administration. One of the latest calls to this effect is from the National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh who told Saturday Sun in an interview that the best way EFCC and the present administration will fight corruption is to probe Obasanjo’s days in power.
Likewise, the NDP has made a similar call, noting that until Obasanjo is investigated, prosecuted and his administration cleared of wrong doings or otherwise, there would be no meaningful fight against corruption.

According to the sources, the directive of President Umar Yar’Adua to release the withheld Lagos LGAs’ allocation, a Supreme Court judgment flouted with impunity by Obasanjo, the indicting verdict of the Court of Appeal last week that Obasanjo abused his office by paying two ministers in dollars and the reversal of the sale of refineries by Obasanjo said to have been improperly done are strong points that he erred while in office and should be arrested to answer to charges of misconduct.