COORUPT POLITICIANS WOULD NOT SUCCEED ME, SAYS OBJ

OBJ: Corrupt politicians won’t succeed me - OBJ never won elections in Nigeria - Soyinka LANRE ADEWOLE, Abuja - 23.08.2006 THE decision of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to stop perceived corrupt leaders from taking over from the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, has received the open endorsement of the president.

The presidential pledge came as the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, submitted that the president never won any election, despite almost completing his second term as the nation’s helmsman. Both the president and Soyinka spoke at the executive session on “Governance and corruption”, organized by the EFCC in Abuja, to precede the annual seminar on economic crime. It was also at the event that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, revealed that Obasanjo had less than N20,000 in his account before he became the president in 1999.

The commission’s chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, in his welcome address, said that stopping corrupt leaders in 2007 became imperative because of the risk such characters would constitute to the internationally recognized achievements of the Obasanjo administration. President Obasanjo said all the necessary support needed by the commission to achieve its set goals on the issue of corruption in governance would be given by him. The president was represented at the occasion by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Sarki Muktar. Soyinka, who voiced his support for Ribadu on his battle against the emergence of perceived corrupt leaders for 2007, asked the commission’s boss to get his men to do their jobs without creating unnecessary fears in the minds of Nigerians, or subject them to undue harassment. He, however, countered the postulation of the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ojo Maduekwe, that Soyinka’s support for Ribadu was tantamount to his support for the party and the president, since Ribadu was a product of the ruling party.

Soyinka explained that there was no way he could have been on the side of the ruling party and Obasanjo, since, according to him, the latter never won the two presidential elections that made him president. The Nobel Laureate, during the discussion on the paper presented by the President of Rwanda, Mr. Paul Kagame, argued that Obasanjo was not elected but selected in 1999, adding that he bought votes in 2003, and “we are still contesting the result of that election”. He also warned against the continuation of a culture of entitlements in public offices, challenging the legislature to lead by example by reducing their demand for entitlements, and also to discourage it on the part of the executive. “Culture of entitlements cripples the economy, the work of the EFCC will be made more difficult if we continue with the culture” he submitted. Soyinka equally called on the electorate to collect money offered by politicians, but to vote according to their conscience during the general election next year.

Naming streets after corrupt past leaders like the late General Sani Abacha anywhere in the country, especially the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), according to Soyinka, was a shame that should be redressed immediately by el-Rufai, with the literary giant arguing that such an action reduced Nigerians in the estimation of the international community. He asked Nigerians to campaign vigorously against past corrupt leaders in 2007, in order to stop them from using their ill-gotten wealth to acquire power again. Ribadu said the seminar was germane, because the nation was approaching an election year, and that Nigerians could not afford to make the same mistakes they made in the past. According to him, “this year’s session is significant for us in the EFCC in two main respects. Nigeria is approaching an election year in 2007 and we want to join other well-meaning Nigerians in placing in the front burner of discourse, the quality of leadership we desire and expect and we should and must have. “Secondly, and as a corollary to the first, is how the fight against corruption by this administration will be sustained in the post-2007 era. The combination of these two related issues will define the future of democracy, the rule of law and development in our country. The gains recorded by the President and his administration, which has been internationally recognized, stand the risk of being eroded if mistakes are made with the choice of our leaders in the 2007 elections” Mallam el-Rufai in his contribution, said that people with good qualities, even if poor, should be entrusted with power, not moneybags, who had no integrity. He cited the example of President Obasanjo, whom he said was almost penniless in 1999, but still got to be elected as president because of his sterling qualities. “In 1999, the president did not have N20,000 when he contested and won as president” the minister stated.