Why I didn’t attack OBJ’s govt for 8 years - Akinjide

updated: Monday 23-06-2008

Richard AkinjideA few days before the death of his arch-rival in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu, a chieftain of the party, Chief Richard Akinjide (SAN), spoke with Assistant Editor, Niyi Adebimpe and Stephen Gbadamosi on a wide range of issues, including reasons he did not attack the eight-year administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Excerpts:

You once said the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo-led government was a disaster and this generated a lot of controversy then. Would you want to review your stand?
I stand by what I said. When I speak, I’m deliberate and I think most carefully before I utter a word. The evidence that have emerged about Obasanjo’s eight years in office have more than justified what I said. I have no doubt that I was right.

One of your daughters served in Obasanjo’s government and some people feel you have no moral justification to condemn him since you did not call him to order then. At what time did things go wrong between you and the former president?
The fact that my daughter served does not mean I should keep quiet if evidence of wrongdoing could be established. My daughter served the Federal Government. I also did. I was a federal minister of education before serving as attorney general of the federation and minister of justice. It is public service. Don’t equate individuals with public service. We served the nation and the head of government too is serving the nation; somebody has got to do it.

You have also been described as inconsistent as you have been alleged to have supported tenure elongation for Obasanjo. Are you not worried about this?
That’s not true. I want anybody to provide any evidence to that effect. I have always been against third term. I challenge anybody to prove me wrong. I am a loyal party man. The emphasis is loyalty to the party and not to an individual. Third term was totally absurd and I am happy it failed. It wasn’t conceived in the nation’s interest. I challenge anybody to provide evidence that I was remotedly connected to it; I was not.

What are those things you think Obasanjo should have done within those eight years that he didn’t do?
I will put it differently, tell me what he has done. Take the issue of power for instance. Shagari was in power for four years, during which I was attorney general. Within the period, we built the Egbin Power Station with gas from the Delta. It is the largest power stationing Africa. It cost us about half a billion US dollars. It was built by Marubeni of Japan. And it is still there till today. For eight years, Obasanjo couldn’t build a single power station. That is one of the reasons we have this power problem today. Look at education; the sector has virtually collapsed. Medical services are not there. They said they refurbished hospitals, go and check whether the equipment are functioning or whether there are people to man them. Look at the police and the roads. If a nation needs to develop, you need education, health services and infrastructures. Those three failed under Obasanjo’s eight years. In order words, Obasanjo was not fit to govern. It was a mistake to have brought him to come and rule Nigeria again. It could have been a disaster if he was allowed to stay longer.

As one of those who midwifed his coming to power, are you apologising to Nigerians over your part in facilitating his election as president?
Unreservedly, I tender it and I hope others too will have the courage and nobility to do the same. It was a national mistake to have allowed Obasanjo to come back to power. It turned out to be a disservice to the country. It has turned out to bringing back the era of treasury looting, lack of development and national disgrace. I tender apology to Nigerians as one of foundation members of the PDP. You know the party in the South West was formed in my house. I was financing the formation too. When we decided to go to Abuja over the party’s formation, I put down the money for the whole of Yorubaland. So, we should be noble enough to admit that we made a mistake by bringing Obasanjo back. We, indeed, owe the nation apology. I hope it will never happen again.

But critics are asking why you did not detect all these while Obasanjo was in power. Why did it take you the whole of eight years to realise your mistake?
It’s like a judge in a court case; you can only decide a case based on the evidence before you. During those eight years, I was not in the cabinet, I was not in the parliament. All these evidence that we now know, did the media know them all the while? The reason the media didn’t know was the same that I did not know.

Obasanjo has replaced himself with Yar’Adua. What do you think the future portends for the country under Yar’Adua? Critics have said when Obasanjo was leaving as head of state, he installed Shagari who didn’t perform to expectations and now, he has done the same with Yar’Adua. What do we expect?
It is not true that he imposed Shagari on Nigeria. Shagari won an election. And Shagari performed. Do you know that when Shagari was there, there was a proposal to do ultramodern railway network in Nigeria? If you check the records, it is there. But when the military took over, it was abandoned. Also, Shagari supported Alhaji Lateef Jakande to do mass transport for Lagos. The contract was signed and I veted it as attorney general. A deposit of $60 million was paid to the French contractor. What happened when the military took over? They cancelled the contract and we forfeited the deposited fund. Again, Jakande had already signed contract for provision of water in Lagos. This project would have solved the water problem in the state for ever. But the military cancelled it too. Don’t forget that Jakande was a Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governor and we were in the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and we were working together. We supported him because whatever he did, party would not determine who benefitted or not from it. So, Shagari was a fair-minded president; he was a patriot.

The point is that Obasanjo brought Yar’Adua and Nigerians voted for him. Let me warn you; Yar’Adua is going to shock Nigerians because he will be an excellent president. I was with Yar’Adua’s father in the late Abubakar Balewa’s cabinet. I was the federal minister of education, while he was the federal minister of Lagos Affairs. Yar’Adua’s father did South West, Ikoyi. He did Vitoria Island. It was our cabinet that did the Eko bridge. We brought Julius Berger to construct the bridge for $8 million. It’s a pity that human memory is very short an people don’t write the history of the country objectively. Balewa turned out to be one of the best leaders the country has ever produced. The same goes for Shagari who was first minister of establishment and later minister of works under Balewa. When the military left, he became president and I, attorney general.

So, there were two of us who served in the Balewa-led government in the immediate past military government and you cannot say Shagari was corrupt. I challenge anybody to prove the contrary. If you want to be fair minded and objective, you will agree that we served this country to the best of our ability.

So, will Yar’Adua government deviate from the last government’s ways?
You can see it for yourselfs that he is not following Obasanjo’s politics or style of governance. Yar’Adua believes in the rule of law, Obasanjo does not.

But science has shown that a father’s traits might not be inherited by his son. How then are you hoping President Yar’Adua would perform on the premise that his father did? What if he turns out to be the opposite of his father?
All the evidence available have shown that he will not disappoint. I agree, some children don’t behave like their fathers, but from all evidence I have, as someone who served in the same government with his father and who has observed the son himself, I have no doubt that he will be a true son of his father.

Just recently, late Chief Lamidi Adedibu described you as a paper-weight politician and you did not comment. And people have said you always stir the hornet’s nest and when things backfire, you retreat. How do you react to this?
Nothing has backfired. The elders and leaders of the party have appealed to us not to aggravate the situation. It is on that basis that I refused to make any statement. The party has set up a committee to look into all these problems in Oyo State. It’s not because I have nothing to say, but you’ve got to respect people who respect you. That’s what I am saying.

There’s even this insinuation that Ibadan indigenes only quarrel in the open and make up in the enclosure. Does this also apply to this case?
I Don’t believe that. It is not true. Ibadans are warriors. We have not been meeting at all. If the part echelon has asked us to cease fire, it would not be fair for us to be making inflammatory statements. That’s why we have not been talking.

So, when should we hope to see a peaceful Oyo PDP?
I cannot tell you. I am not in control of the time-table. The party leaders at the higher level are in charge. But I can assure you, the PDP will come out of all these problems stronger. No other party will be able to stand us. We may have our internal problems, no external foe will benefit from them.

To what extent will you agree that your grouse is that your son did not emerge as the party’s senatorial candidate?
My son is entitled to be a senator. What is the meaning of grouse? I am one of the foundation members of the PDP and one of its financiers. My son has three law degrees from the University of Cambridge and he now represents AIPL which is the body responsible for oil and gas throughout the world, representing Europe and Africa. He is on the board. It is not as if my son is jobless; he is a high flyer; he is a partner in my European and Nigeria law firms. So, what are we talking about?

If he has such a lucrative job, why did he come to Nigeria to contest election?
That’s exactly what I did myself. I entered parliament at the age of 27 and I had an extremely lucrative law practice then. I was in the parliament until the coup of 1966. It is public service. The punishment which good people suffer by not going into politics is that they allow bad people to rule them. Good people should go into politics.

But, isn’t politics for money-bags like you?
No, you are wrong. When I entered politics, I was not a rich person. In fact, it was my constituents who paid for my election expenses. Politics is a clean and honest avenue to service. It is only dirty people that turn it into a dirty game. Look at America, the issue of Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama. Look at the way Awolowo served this nation and the South West. He is one of the best rulers we have ever had. Look at Zik, Okpara, Adelabu, Adeniran Ogunsanya, Balewa and Ahmadu Bello.

If I (Nigerian Tribune) had contested with your son, people in Nigeria would not have reckoned with me because of his money. Isn’t it so?
People vote for policy and quality and not for money. Don’t think that Nigerians are so daft as that; give some credit to them. I’m not saying there are not pockets of corruption here and there in elections, but overall, Nigerians are noble who go into politics for service.

How often do you see former President Obasanjo?
There is nothing personal between us. When last we met at the Government House, he came in to say hello to us. I mean, you don’t turn political differences into personal differences. There’s nothing personal about it. Afterall, his daughter married an Ibadan boy. So, to that extent, he is our in-law and his grandson is an Ibadan boy.

Why is it that you old politicians want to replace yourselves with your children?
There is no question of old or new politician. Once a politician, always a politician. There is something you call pedigree; your children may want to take after you. Is there any thing wrong in that? In fact, nine members of my family are lawyers. I have got a grandchild who is a lawyer already. We have a law office in London and Gambia apart from Nigeria. We have our profession; politics is a call to national service. One of my children, Olalekan, is into banking and global finance.

Would you say you are satisfied with the current National Assembly?
The National Assembly is trying its best. It’s only one-year-old and it met difficult problems. Let us give them a chance. Before I can make an objective judgement, at least, they must have served for two years.

You said PDP in the south west was formed in your house. Why do people always ascribe the origin of PDP in Oyo State to Alhaji Yekini Adeojo?
It’s not true. In fact, the day Adeojo declared for PDP, I was there in his house. I came from Lagos on that day. We have already formed the PDP before he joined us. I was even late in arriving in his house that day. Maybe some people have amnesia. It is not true. PDP was formed in my house here and I can say it loud and clear; I can challenge anybody to that effect.

At what point did late Chief Adedibu hijack the PDP from your group?
PDP has never been hijacked from us. I can say that clearly that it is not true. I am using this opportunity to set the records straight. It was Obasanjo, using Bode George, the two of them using Adedibu, to cause crisis. If you put the machinery of the federal government, the police, the Army, and the intelligence service as well as the treasury in your hand, you will rule any state in Nigeria. That is what has happened. And that is exactly what Yar’Adua is not doing and why everything is collapsing under Adedibu.Yar’Adua believes in the rule of law; all the machineries which were made available to Adedibu illegally and wrongly are no more there; that is why his edifice has collapsed.

Dr. Omololu Olunloyo has said that people like you had used Adedibu to achieve political goals and that it was wrong for you to now turn against the man. What is your reaction?
At no time have I used Adedibu. I was in charge of the National Party of Nigeria ( NPN) in Oyo State. Adedibu was in charge of Ibadan City only while late Chief Busari Adelakun a.k.a Eruobodo was in charge of the Ibadan Less City. Lekan Salami was incharge of both. You see the structure. But Adedibu was said to have been involved in sharp practices, only in the main city that he controlled. But we won the state. I was the chairman, while he was only subordinate to me. I never used him.