THE WATCH : The Saga Between Atiku and Obasanjo

                     THE WATCH                            
                            Is                                    
 Olusegun Obasanjo’s Autobiography Book:

The Saga between Atiku and Obasanjo

The following is an excerpt from
the volume-3. page-1,522 ‘in the book
MY WATCH. The former President
Olusegun Obasanjo. Said:


“By the Constitution, I had to
inaugurate or prorogue the
National Assembly on June 4,
1999. The most important officer
in the National Assembly is the
senate president and that office
had been zoned to the South-
east. And here was where Atiku
Abubakar, my vice-president,
first showed his hand and his
character.

“Without seeking my view or
approval, he started planning
the installation of Chuba
Okadigbo as the senate
president. I did a background
check on Chuba including his
past as a student and made
enquiries about him in the
National Party of Nigeria (NPN)
under (President Shehu) Shagari
and no one would recommend
him for the post of senate
president.

“I left Atiku to go on his chase
while I carried out a meticulous
and detailed investigation and
background check on each
senator from the South-east.
The one that appeared most
appointable was Evan Enwerem.
I canvassed the senate across
the board for his election and he
was elected. Atiku did not expect
it and he felt sore.

“He began to strategise for
Enwerem to be removed and
Chuba Okadigbo to be installed.
His strategy worked because I
was at Abuja airport to receive a
visiting head of state when the
news reached me that the
Senate had impeached Enwerem
and elected Okadigbo. I was not
perturbed. I came to understand
from some senators including
Florence Ita-Giwa, who later
became my Special Adviser/
Liaison Officer to the National
Assembly, that Atiku distributed
US$5,000 each to some senators
to carry out the ‘coup’.

“That was the beginning of
bribing the legislature to carry
out a particular line of action to
suit or satisfy the purpose or
desire of an individual or a
group. The National Assembly
had tasted blood and they would
continue to want more. From the
day I nominated Atiku to be my
vice, he set his mind not for any
good, benefit or service of the
country, but on furiously
planning to upstage, supplant or
remove me at all cost and to
take my place.

“That was what I brought him
for, but he was impatient and
over-ambitious. He was not
ready to learn and to wait. His
marabout, who predicted that
despite being elected as
governor, he would not be
sworn in as a governor, which
happened, also assured him that
he would take over from me in a
matter of months rather than
years.

“All his plans, appointments of
people and his actions were
towards the actualisation of his
marabout’s prediction. Once I
realised his intention and
programme, I watched him like
a hawk without giving any
indication of what I knew and
letting down my guard. I could
not succumb to the distraction,
diversion and malevolence of an
ambitious but unwise deputy.

“The work in hand was more
important than a confrontational
relationship with my deputy, a
man over whom I knew I had far
more experience and outreach
in all matters. To alert him of
what I knew he was up to, would
only lead to lying, denial, more
mischievous plans and more
duplicity on his part.

“He was better managed that
way. What was important was
not allowing myself to be
surprised or outmanoeuvred by
him. I must always seize the
initiative and know what was
going on if not in his mind, but at
least in his camp. That I did very
effectively.

“Sometime in the fourth quarter
of 2004, an associate of Atiku
came to my residence at the Aso
Villa from Atiku’s official
residence. He felt uncomfortable
and I tried to make him feel at
ease. Then, he settled to tell me
the story of what had just
transpired in Atiku’s residence. I
listened with rapt attention.

“He went on to say that Atiku
told him that for him to become
the President of Nigeria, the
2007 elections were only a
formality.

“The seven ingredients he
needed for his enthronement
were already in his hands. He
controlled the National
Assembly because both the
President of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of
Representatives were in his
pocket. He controlled twenty-
eight out of thirty-six governors.
He had control of the media. His
influence over the judiciary was
overwhelming.

“What he needed was foreign
endorsement and for that he
had employed two lobby groups
in the US and one in the UK. And
finally, the money for the
elections was in his purse.
“When the man finished, I
thanked him without passing
any comment. The man was
surprised at my reaction and
asked, ‘You have nothing to say
to these?’ I said that I had
nothing to say and I immediately
called my ADC, Chris Jemitola, to
play a game of squash with me.

“On our way to the squash court
with my ADC, I said, ‘People at
times make plans and leave God
out of their plans.’ My casual
remark struck Chris and he said,
‘Sir, that was a profound
statement.’ I said that I made the
statement because of what I had
just heard of Atiku’s plan. I was
not convinced he had put God in
his plans.

“Atiku was confident and God
was laughing. Most of Atiku’s
ingredients soon started to fall
out of place one by one. The first
was the party, PDP.
“He thought I was powerless and
had no clue about the execution
of his plan with his group; part
of his attack on me was for
national chairman of the party to
give the first salvo, then other
things would follow as his grip
on the party would be firm and
consolidated.

“That salvo came in the form of a
letter to me from the chairman
of the party, Audu Ogbeh, who
had fully defected with (Iyorchia)
Ayu to Atiku.

“The letter, which was not the
product of any issue or matter
discussed with or at any party
meeting, came suddenly. When I
received it, I could read the
sinister intention behind it.

“I spent that night writing my
reply and I sent it in the
morning. My reply was clear. I
wondered why Atiku and his
group did not realise that with
my reply, the battle line was
clear or maybe they thought that
the seven ingredients would
remain intact to the end.

“My assistants had moles within
the Atiku group. Anything that
they planned would be reported.
That was the case after Ogbeh’s
letter. They decided that Ogbeh
should appear remorseful and
come with the National Working
Committee to apologise to me. It
was not from their hearts, but to
lure me to a ‘killing ground’.

“All pieces of information that
were reported were verified
because it would not come from
only one informant.

“Timely information is a very
important principle of war and
also of politics. In politics, just as
in war, what matters is not just
your plan, but knowledge of
your opponent’s plan. Knowing
their plan, I had the choice of
playing along with them or being
firm, I chose the latter.

“I told Ogbeh that my
relationship with him as national
chairman and me as national
leader of the party was based on
mutual confidence and trust. But
with his letter, my reply and
what I knew of him then, I could
no longer work with him in
confidence and trust.

“There were only two choices
left for both of us in our best
interest and that of the party –
he, leaves as chairman or I leave
as leader of the party.

“The following Sunday, I called at
his house, which I had done on
several occasions in the past
when there was an important
party matter to discuss. This
time, I asked him to give me an
undated letter of resignation as
the national chairman.

“I waited, he gave me but it was
wrongly addressed to me rather
than to the national secretary of
the party as stipulated in the
party’s constitution.

“Ogbeh reported to his group
and it was decided by them to
play on and to wait for my
disgrace whenever I presented a
letter of resignation not
addressed to the national
secretary.

“The informants did their job
and I, once again, paid another
visit to Ogbeh at his residence.
He entertained me to a meal and
drink, and changed the
addressee on his letter of
resignation.

“It would appear he never
reported the change to his
group. When I considered it
opportune and appropriate, the
letter was dated and presented
to National Executive Committee
of the party, which regrettably
accepted the resignation.

“With that, whatever control
Atiku claimed to have over the
party began to crumble. But he
did not think so and went on to
boast that if I made my daughter
the national chairman, it would
be a matter of weeks not
months before he would put her
in his pocket.

“I therefore had to look for a
successor chairman, who would
be too big, uncompromising and
inflexible to be lured and
controlled by Atiku. I found such
a man in Senator (Dr.) Amadu
Ali, whom I had known many
years earlier as a medical doctor
in the army…”

Excerpted from “My Watch” by
Olusegun Obasanjo.

           Article by Suleiman A Gamawa



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