Posted by By Musikilu Mojeed on
A stalwart of the Action Congress, Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo, on Wednesday said the planned electoral reform by President Umaru Yar‘Adua would not succeed as long as former President Olusegun Obasanjo retained his stranglehold on the administration.
A stalwart of the Action Congress, Dr. Okwesileze Nwodo, on Wednesday said the planned electoral reform by President Umaru Yar‘Adua would not succeed as long as former President Olusegun Obasanjo retained his stranglehold on the administration.
He said for the reform to bear fruits, Yar‘Adua must be willing to remove Obasanjo‘s tentacles in the Federal Government and the Peoples Democratic Party.
He made these observations when a delegation from the Brussel-based International Crisis Group met with some of its officials in Abuja.
The ICG was in Nigeria to study the aftermath of the April general elections with a view to determining whether any crisis was lurking in the corner.
But addressing the three-man ICG delegation, a former National Secretary of the PDP, Nwodo, who was part of the seven-man AC team that met the ICG, said Obasanjo remained the most potent clog in the wheel of the planned reform.
Nwodo said, 'In spite of his effort at reforming the electoral system, Yar‘Adua is not likely to succeed because Obasanjo is still very much in control.
"As at today, he is enjoying his third term in office behind the scene. Most of his former aides have been retained. Independent National Electoral Commission, as appointed by him, is still in place. The commission is still acting in line with his dictates.
'The security apparatus that pandered to his will are still largely the way he wanted them to be. Obasanjo‘s handpicked leadership is still running the National Assembly.
'Nigeria's real problem is Obasanjo. For as long as he maintains his hold on the government and his party, we cannot move forward. He wants to continue to control whatever happens in Nigeria for the rest of his life."