Posted by By KENNY ASHAKA, Kaduna on
Former civilian governor of old Kaduna State and Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Alhaji Abdulkadri Balarabe Musa has tasked the National Assembly not to allow Vice President Atiku Abubakar bear the burden of the Obasanjo government's alleged corrupt practices alone as misdeed by the president was worse than those perpetrated by his deputy.
Former civilian governor of old Kaduna State and Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, Alhaji Abdulkadri Balarabe Musa has tasked the National Assembly not to allow Vice President Atiku Abubakar bear the burden of the Obasanjo government's alleged corrupt practices alone as misdeed by the president was worse than those perpetrated by his deputy.
Vice President Abubakar was recently suspended by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for three months on the grounds of the investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged corrupt practices, and by extension, aborting his ambition to contest the presidential primaries of the party.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Daily Sun in Kaduna, Balarabe Musa said the suspension was instigated by President Olusegun Obasanjo in order to cover up "worse crimes committed by him (Obasanjo)."
He said that while the nation was dealing with the ripping off of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) in relation to Atiku's case, the alleged misdeed of the president ranged from even the PTDF, to his handling of the Abacha loot, excess crude oil sale and the question of the nation's budget.
"The suspension of Atiku from the PDP is an attempt by the presidency to cover up worse alleged crimes committed by him because in the case of the vice president, we are only talking about what happened in PTDF."
Balarabe listed the ecological fund from Plateau State Government, the NNPC accounts, which is yet to be investigated, the balance of Nigeria's budget and the money recovered from the late Abacha's account as some of the queries President Obasanjo must answer before leaving office.
He also warned members of the National Assembly to watch their back because President Obasanjo's ultimate joker for tenure elongation would be the suspension of the National Assembly.
Speaking on the recent plane crash in which about 100 persons, including the Sultan of Sokoto died, Balarabe expressed preference for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry, saying that Obasnjo's recommendation of a panel of investigation would not be far reaching enough to unravel the shortcoming in the aviation industry and why the ADC plane crashed.
Impeachment is for Obasanjo's ambition
"My removal is different in so many ways. The disregard for constitutional process is there. This is at a much higher level than during my time. Secondly, during my time, there was nothing criminal. But now, all the allegations are criminal. They are based on stealing and corruption. During my time, there was some restraint.
"It took some time before the impeachment was actually made. But you know now, impeachment takes place within seven days with all kinds of criminality.
"Impeachment nowadays is a programmed event. We all sincerely believe that all the impeachment since 1999, the president is interested. We know that from all indications, the president wants to proceed after May 29, 2007.
"We believe that he does not want to hand over in 2007 for many reasons. And one of the ways he can do so is to encourage confusion so that he can declare a state of emergency throughout the country, suspend the National Assembly in such a way that amounts to a dissolution of the National Assembly so that he can rule alone.
"Impeachment now is part and parcel of the political strategy to perpetuate the president in office. Another problem is that in virtually all the cases since 1999, the governors are impeachable. The only thing is that it is not proceeding according to the constitution and therefore lack credibility. In all the cases, there are allegations of criminal offences; but they carry out the impeachment in a manner that makes the people to loose confidence in the exercise."
He cited the example of Oyo State saying "because of the manner they went about it, the Federal Court of Appeal has now voided the impeachment. It means that we will now go back to square one; the governor returns as governor while the impeachment procedure can still continue according to the constitution."
When asked to state concretely if the president will not quit office after May 29, 2007, Balarabe quipped: "Unless the National Assembly stops him, because at the moment, it is the last resort for Nigerians if we want a peaceful and constitutional transition.
"The National Assembly, will soon discover that if they don't do the right thing and impeach the president for obvious reasons, then the president will deal with them. Like I said, he can prepare the conditions in Nigeria that will allow him declare a state of emergency. And when he declares a state of emergency, he can do exactly what he did in Plateau and Ekiti states houses of Assembly and consequently suspend the National Assembly.
Now, if he suspends the National Assembly, for instance, in December, that automatically amounts to dissolution of the National Assembly. And it means that before the National Assembly can return, the six months would have lapsed. It also means that the six months will expire after May 29, 2007 which means that the National Assemblty will not be able to sit again. Of course, I see that happening because I cannot see the president handing over on May 29, 2007 because if he hands over, he will be arrested just like governors were arrested after they had been impeached and had lost their immunity. The same thing will happen to him. Nobody should doubt it."
Atiku's suspension, a cover up
The suspension of Atiku from the PDP is an attempt by the president to cover up worse alleged crimes committed by him because in the case of the vice president, we are only talking about what happened in PTDF. But in the case of the president, we are dealing with things that are even worse. Besides the PTDF matter in which he (president) is also connected, going by the allegations raised by the vice president, Obasanjo also has to explain the money from the ecological fund of Plateau State government that was distributed to PDP, including the money the president himself had to pay. He has to explain everything about the NNPC account, which he stopped from being investigated.
He has to explain everything about his handling of the budget in particular, in view of the fact that only about 10 to 20 percent of the budget was spent. What happened to the balance? There is the question of the federation account and the misuse of it. There is the question of the so-called Abacha recovered loot. What has happened to it? There is the question of the use of the excess oil revenue.
There are a number of issues that the president has to explain. So, his (President) own is more grievous than that of the vice president. Our conclusion is that both of them should be properly investigated and if necessary, impeach both of them. And I think it is very important and under the circumstances, we should not make the mistake of investigating only one and not the other. Both of them should be investigated. There is also the fact that right now, the president has impeachment procedure against him in the National Assembly. It has just been suspended.