Obasanjo wasted $16bn in 8 years, says Bayelsa monarch

A Bayelsa monarch, Asara A. Asara, has challenged Nigeria’s former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, to name his achievements despite the $16 billion he wasted in his eight-year rule as a civilian president of the country.

King Asara, who made the call during a chat with Daily Sun yesterday in Abuja, said the former president

lacked the humility to acknowledge other leaders’ achievements, pointing out that Obasanjo wanted to be seen as the only hero in the country, whose achievements surpassed those of others.

His words: “For the eight years Obasanjo was president, what were his achievements? He spent about $16 billion when he was in power; he only succeeded in changing former National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Did it change anything? Did he construct any road? What did Obasanjo do to say that, when I was president, these were my achievements?”

The traditional ruler explained that Obasanjo’s exit from the ruling party was due to his grouse against President Goodluck Jonathan for not allowing him to control the machinery of government, while the president played the role of a robot in his own government.

He said: “You know that in any association Obasanjo is not a leader; in any government he is not a leader, it is no government. From day one, having supported Jonathan to win the Presidency, Obasanjo thought that all the ministers would be appointed by him, if not all, 60 per cent of the ministers. He thought that he would be given ministries to control. That’s the first thing and before every other appointment, he must be consulted. He made himself self-appointed oracle that anything that must be done in Aso Rock Villa, Jonathan will have to run to him. He wanted Jonathan to be a puppet, a stooge, a robot.”

Asara further explained that the Ota farmer was uncomfortable that if given a second term, President Jonathan would have made history as the longest serving leader in the country.

“You know Obasanjo wants to be the only hero in everything. So, if Jonathan now wins, because he is going to take eight years, Jonathan will make history. That’s why Obasanjo is angry,” he said.

The monarch insisted that Obasanjo had no moral right to preach against corruption because he had allegedly benefitted from corruption more than any other Nigerian, pointing out that at his release from prison, he had only N20,000, but today, worth billions of naira.

Urging Nigerians to vote for Jonathan in the forthcoming presidential election, Asara noted that Obasanjo’s farm, which was already dead before he was released from prison, had become the biggest and most flourishing in the country. Also, he queried the source of funds used in establishing the former president’s well-equipped library.