Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja on
The Aro of Mopa and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, has sensationally revealed how he was deceived by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 to back him for the country's presidency.
The Aro of Mopa and Chairman of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Sunday Awoniyi, has sensationally revealed how he was deceived by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 to back him for the country's presidency.
Awoniyi further said that even at that, he warned that it would be disastrous if Obasanjo at the end of the day reverts to what he was, adding that now the president has failed to live up to his promises, to the country and himself (Awoniyi) particularly after paying the "penance."
He made the revelations on Monday in Abuja at a Roundtable Talk on "Nigeria's War Against Corruption: Myth or Reality," organised by the Forum for Democracy and Good Governance (FDGG), a group of some members of the Federal House of Representatives.
Awoniyi, who chaired one of the two sessions of the Roundtable Talk said: "Having known Obasanjo over 39 years, I had my reservations when his candidature was sold to me. I did not believe he was temperamentally suited to carry out the democratic experiments we were about to embark on.
"But the man (Obasanjo) came and said "look Sunday, I've been through the valley of death. I am not the Obasanjo you used to know. And I ask him, will you persecute the Abacha family' he said No! " He (Abacha) wanted me dead, but he is the one that is dead now, I am a born-again Christian."
"And he equally said, if he (Obasanjo) was to revert to what he was, we will regret it. And today we, and in particular myself, are paying the penance.
"But let me quickly add that we took the decision to bring back Obasanjo in 1999 in good faith," Awoniyi was reacting to the insinuation that he was part of present predicament Nigerians found themselves.
While sounding optimistic about the good future of this country, Awoniyi who alluded that Obasanjo is what Saul is to the early Christians before his conversion to Paul, insisted that if Obasanjo's present fight against corruption turns out to be
real and not selective, he would apply for a pass to go to Aso Rock and congratulate the president.
"The recent attack on corruption should be praised by everybody. There's nobody that is not in support of the fight against corruption. Before Saul became Saint Paul, he was persecuting Christians most viciously before God torched him on his way to Damascus.
"If my Saul of a president is now touched, and suddenly turned anti-corruption crusade, I am bound to support him. If it is real, I will apply for a pass to go to Aso Rock to congratulate him."
"And for the anti-corruption crusade to be real, it has to be consistent, all pervading, thorough and pervasive. In the end, it must be encapsulated with the good conduct of Mr. President," Awoniyi added.
He argued that the legislators should remain steadfast in their fight against corruption. He also urged Nigerians, to irrespective of the shortcomings of the lawmakers, give them the necessary support, as they (lawmakers) are the only one to hang on to for now, since labour has been successfully caged.