Posted by By Kola Ologbondiyan on
The claims and counter claims that have trailed the feud involving President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar continued at the weekend with the vice president alleging that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, some unnamed ministers and other aides of the President are deluding themselves on their utterances on the matter.
The claims and counter claims that have trailed the feud involving President Olusegun Obasanjo and Vice President Atiku Abubakar continued at the weekend with the vice president alleging that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, some unnamed ministers and other aides of the President are deluding themselves on their utterances on the matter.
The vice president said he was prepared to bare all concerning the Petroleum Trust Develop-ment Fund (PTDF) before the Senate that will investigate the fund and other related matters.
Atiku, who said the public hearing of the Senate Ad-hoc committee would interest Nigerians, also asserted that the minister and the members of his group should stop deceiving themselves that there are no cheques implicating them in the Senate probe.
But Ogun State governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, at the weekend reviewed the imbroglio between Obasanjo and his deputy and submited that anybody who understood the enormous powers conferred on the President by the Constitution will behave himself.
"The President is the custodian of the people's mandate. It is as simple as that. Any other thing is secondary. The President is unique. The President is not God but he is next to God in our kind of democracy. Anybody who understands that will know how to behave," Daniel told newsmen at an interactive session in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
However, the Vice President stressed that the veracity of claims and counter-claims as they concerned the
PTDF cheques will be established at the public hearing which is expected to commence when the Senate resume from its two weeks suspension of plenary for committees' review of the 2007 Apropriation.
"The Minister of the FCT in fact should be prepared to personally appear as matters will arise that will link him with PTDF funds along with some ministers and other spokesperson of the President," the Vice President further said in a statement issued by the media arm of his campaign organisation.
He challenged el-Rufai to provide evidence that a PTDF cheque of N250m was written in his name and traced to an account belonging to him stressing that "Nasiru has a duty to the nation and his conscience to provide this evidence or resign.
"However let us add a caveat: Nigerians should be wary of the wild allegations often emanating from Nasir el-Rufai. For all we know, he will end up calling upon God as his witness when pressed to prove same. That is his character," he added.
According to him, the team of his supporters that met with Obasanjo's group never demanded for "soft landing" on his behalf noting that the meeting only agreed that media war needed to cease and the Senate hearing be slowed down until an amicable political solution is reached in the best interest of the country's future and of the two sides in the discussions.
He further said that el-Rufai has confirmed the fact that Chief Bayo Ojo's Administrative Panel of Inquiry did not carry out any independent investigation before compiling its report, adding that el-Rufai's statement is of interest to his lawyers.
"Finally, el-Rufai made the point about himself and (Mallam Nuhu) Ribadu, that they would have acted in the same way and manner if some others, even if it were their fathers, that were involved. We note this as we intend to hold them to this commitment as we prepare to bare all before the Senate.
"It suffices to warn that in a system that used and dumped Sunday Afolabi, Otunba (Oyewole) Fasawe, Mobolaji Osomo, Governors Ayo Fayose and Joshua Dariye and above all Atiku Abubakar, nothing is there to suggest that a better fate awaits el-Rufai and Ribadu.
But the Ogun State governor, Daniel, who urged Nigerians to pray to God on the feud between Obasanjo and his deputy, noted that the presidential system is presidential in all ramifications.
"The President is the president. It is a very simple straightforward matter. The President is the custodian of the people's mandate. It is as simple as that. Any other thing is secondary. The President is unique. The President is not God, but he is next to God in our kind of democracy. Anybody who understands that will know how to behave," Daniel said.