Recently there were reports in the national dailies, quoting the former President Obasanjo as indicting the then members of the Senate as corrupt, having introduced fraudulent constituency projects. How true is this accusation?

No, that is far from being true. In fact, I feel disappointed with that assertion by Chief Obasanjo, not only on the issue of constituency projects, but on the other claims credited to him.

He was also quoted as saying that members of the National Assembly fraudulently increased budgets unilaterally for projects that were not requested for by the various ministries and departments of government. This is a great disappointment and an embarrassment on himself, portraying him as a cowardly democratic president, especially as he has made this allegation at this point in time.

This is because Obasanjo had all the instruments at his disposal to stop whatever projects the National Assembly put in the budget that he did not believe in. If the National Assembly had actually jacked up the budget and he went ahead and vetoed the budget, that meant he actually assented to it.
On the other hand, if he rejected the proposal and the National Assembly still went ahead to over ride his veto by two-thirds majority of the members of the National Assembly, then he can have the moral right at this point in time to make this accusation against the members.

That is why I am saying that he is a coward because if what he was saying was true, he should have had the courage as president to confront the National Assembly and tell the members that he did not believe in what they  proposed in the budget and refused to sign it into law.

That would have portrayed him as a courageous and upright president.  I actually view his action as hypocritical and cowardly.
In your opinion, what do you think  informed his motivation in making the allegation?

In my opinion, I think the former president was only trying at this point in time to, perhaps, incite President Goodluck Jonathan against the National Assembly.

In a nutshell, he is, in a way, encouraging President Jonathan to do what he failed to do because of cowardice; that is, for Jonathan to now confront the National Assembly on constituency projects.

Sir, having been a senator within the time frame in question, you also share part of the accusation. What would you claim as a defence concerning constituency projects in your state, Zamfara?

It is very sad for Obasanjo to make a blanket judgment in his accusations. As far as I am concerned, there are verifiable facts for everyone to see in Zamfara State as regards constituency projects.

You are quite aware of the Federal Medical Centre permanent site project in Gusau, which had been abandoned for over 15 years, but which has now been under construction from the past three years. All the structures you see put in place are products of constituency projects. And you can see that a number of boreholes all over in the state, which were constructed during that time, were all the result of constituency projects. I can assure you that from 1999 up to 2007, there  was virtually nothing to show, as far as Federal Government projects were concerned in Zamfara State, apart from constituency projects.

As such, for anybody to say that constituency projects are only instruments of defrauding government funds is most unfortunate, an act of cowardice on the part of Obasanjo, and he is being hypocritical about this matter.

If he has anything against anybody, let him come out openly and say it, rather than hiding under the pretext of making false allegations against the National Assembly. It is very unfair and very unwise for him to say that the entire members of the National Assembly are corrupt. He needs to be advised on his selection of words. It is simply unfortunate.

There was also another allegation that during your time, the cost of maintaining members of the Assembly was N250 million per head.

Well, as far as the period between 1999 and 2007 is concerned, the records are there to verify the true picture of things. There is no financial record from 1999 to 2007 when he was the president that will show that members of the National Assembly enjoyed a cost of that amount per head. That is far from the truth.

I cannot comment on what is happening now, and that is why I am saying he is being  cowardly  because if that was what was happening at that point in time, why did he not query and stop it?

Maybe Obasanjo could remember what Balarabe Musa did during the Second Republic, when he confronted the then State House of Assembly head on about a matter which he, then, did not personally believe in. Even if he was wrong, he firmly stood by it, even at the expense of his office.

This is how an upright person should be and not being a coward or hypocritical about national issues.

In a similar vein, Obasanjo should have stood his ground and insisted on fighting what he saw was wrong, even if the National Assembly threatened to impeach him; that was a courageous person would have done. He was only acting to score a political point.