The Presidency on Monday attacked former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his claim that corruption has reached a fatal stage in the country.
The Presidency also faulted Obasanjo’s call for the sacking of the Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, over his conduct of the 2023 election which he described as a travesty.
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However, the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and the New Nigeria Peoples Party backed the elder statesman on the issue of graft, the imperative of electoral reform and other issues he raised in his keynote address at the Chinua Achebe Leadership Forum, Yale University, New Haven, United States of America, on Sunday.
In his address, ‘Leadership failure and state capture in Nigeria,’ the ex-President canvassed for shorter tenures for INEC officials and a more rigorous vetting process to prevent the appointment of partisan individuals.
He criticised President Bola Tinubu’s performance in office, asserting that corruption continues to rank among the most important problems affecting Nigerians.
The elder statesman said, “More than N700 billion in cash bribes were paid by citizens to public officials in 2023. Most bribes are paid in the street or a public official’s office.
“Private sector bribery is increasing but continues to be less prevalent than in the public sector. Corruption goes with power; therefore, to hold any useful discussion of corruption, we must first locate it where it properly belongs – in the ranks of the powerful.
“Corruption in Nigeria has passed the alarming and entered the fatal stage, and Nigeria will die if we keep pretending that she is only slightly indisposed.’’
He added, “Ranked 150 out of 180 countries in the Transparency International 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index,1 Nigeria’s ranking places it in the bottom 20 per cent of the comity of nations and illustrates how systemic and embedded corruption is in the country. It is, in my opinion, and those of many, the most serious developmental challenge to the nation.”
He insisted that the nation would continue to sink into chaos, insecurity, conflict, discord, division, disunity, depression, youth restiveness, confusion, violence, and underdevelopment as long as it is embedded in corruption.
However, in a pushback on Monday, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the former President had no moral grounds to criticise INEC, having presided over what he called “the most fraudulent election held in Nigeria since 1960.”
In a statement titled, ‘Former President Obasanjo was not an ideal leader to emulate,’ Onanuga said, “It is hypocrisy writ large when a man who presided over the worst election in Nigeria demands the sack of the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission.”
He added, “After wasting billions of naira on a failed third-term project in 2007, Chief Obasanjo hurriedly organised a sham electoral process that would go down in history as the most fraudulent election held in Nigeria since 1960.
“The beneficiary of the sham election, Umaru Yar’adua, admitted that the election was seriously flawed and, as Justice Muhammed Uwais’ panel recommended, worked towards electoral reforms.”
Onanuga also suggested that Obasanjo’s self-acclaimed reputation as an economic reformer did not align with his record in office.
The statement pointed out that many challenges Obasanjo highlighted in his Yale address remain unresolved legacies of his administration.
It noted Obasanjo’s admission that his administration failed to prioritise gas development, a sector now receiving attention under the Tinubu administration.
It also acknowledged that Obasanjo’s tenure benefited from rising crude oil prices, which peaked during that period.
It also acknowledged that Obasanjo’s tenure benefited from rising crude oil prices, which peaked during that period.
Still, it argued that poor economic decisions, including the hasty repayment of $15bn in Paris Club debt while neglecting critical infrastructure, laid the foundation for subsequent economic challenges.
It also linked the rise of militancy and kidnapping to Obasanjo’s administration, asserting that his tenure allowed such security issues to take root and expand.
On matters of integrity, honesty, and morality in public leadership, it said Obasanjo is “certainly not a paragon of virtue for anyone to model after.”
