Former Vice-President of
Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, has revealed
that he “blasted” his boss,
President Olusegun
Obasanjo, over his bid to
run for a second term.
Atiku made the disclosure
during an interview with a
newspaper published in
Hausa.
“At first we started
arguing, and then he
(Obasanjo) opened
his drawer and
brought out a copy
of the Quran and
asked me to swear
that I will not be
disloyal to him.
There was nothing I
did not tell him in
that room. The first
thing I told him was
that I swore with the
Quran to defend the
Constitution of
Nigeria. Why are you
now giving me the
Quran to swear for
you again? What if I
swear for you and
you go against the
constitution?"
In the interview published
by an online publication
on Friday, Abubakar also
disclosed that he and
Obasanjo argued over his
failed third term bid. Atiku
said during one of their
arguments, Obasanjo gave
him a Quran to swear
loyalty to him.
He said, “Secondly, I
looked at him and told
him that if I don’t like you
or don’t support you,
would I have called 19
northern governors to
meet for three days in my
House in Kaduna only for
us to turn our back on
you?
“Thirdly, I asked him, what
are you even doing with
the Quran? Are you a
Muslim that you would
even administer an oath
on me with the Quran? I
was angry, and I really
blasted him. He asked me
to forgive him and he
returned the Quran back
to the drawer, and we
came out.”
Speaking further about the
controversial third term
bid, which could have
taken Obasanjo to a
record 12 years as the
country’s president, Atiku
said he vehemently told
Obasanjo to leave after
the completion of his
second term in office.
He said, “In fact we had
the same kind of
altercation when he was
gunning for third term, he
informed me that “I left
power twenty years ago, I
left Mubarak in office, I
left Mugabe in office, I left
Eyadema in office, I left
Umar Bongo, and even
Paul Biya and I came
back and they are still in
power; and I just did eight
years and you are asking
me to go; why?” And I
responded to him by
telling him that Nigeria is
not Libya, not Egypt, not
Cameroun, and not Togo;
I said you must leave;
even if it means both of
us lose out, but you
cannot stay.”
Atiku however denied that
Obasanjo went on his
knees to plead for his
support. He, however,
added that he (Obasanjo)
visited his residence to
plead for his support.
He said, “Honestly, he did
not kneel down for me.
But he did come to my
house and I refused to see
him. And he knocked my
door continuously and
asked me in the name of
God to come out, so I
came out, and we went
downstairs, and he asked
me to join him in his car
and I said, no, because of
security reasons, but he
insisted. So when we
entered his car, I never
knew that he had gone
round states pavilions and
asking for the support of
governors and delegates
and they refused to listen
to him because they have
not seen us together. So
that was why he came
and picked me up so that
we would go round
together. There is
something that many
people did not know
before, which I will tell
you now.
“We sat with party elders
and discussed the issue
of Presidency and there
was debate as to whether
the South will have eight
or four years? If the South
had eight years, so the
north too should have
eight years subsequently.
After lots of debates, it
was finally agreed that the
South should have eight
years. And when power
returns to the north, they
should also have it for
eight years.
“However, governors
objected to this
arrangement. I was then
in a dilemma; is the
governors’ objection
genuine or just a political
gimmick. What if I
followed them to run
against the president and
they later on turn their
back on me and align with
the president? At the end
of the day, one would
neither be a vice president
or a president because
politics is a slippery
game.”
That was how Atiku ended
up supporting Obasanjo,
despite opposition from
some governors.
Concerning his role in the
recent breakup of the
Peoples Democratic Party,
where Abubakar led a
number of PDP governors
out of the party’s
convention, Abubakar said
they had spent four
months plotting the move.
He said, “We have been
planning for some time
because we have spent
almost four months
planning how to split the
PDP. At first I didn’t know
the arrowhead, but they
eventually came and met
me and I joined them
because their reasons are
the same with the ones I
have been fighting against
within the party...
0 comments:
Post a Comment