LAGOS — Former President Olusegun Obasanjo
has expressed angst against those asking him to
account for recovered Abacha loot, describing
them as illiterates and stupid people.
He also said there was nothing wrong in
President Muhammadu Buhari’s frequent trips as,
according to him, Nigeria needs to be in touch
with important centres of the world.
Obasanjo, who stated this in an interview,
weekend, said the role of his office was to
facilitate the recovery process and not how it was
put to use.
He said: “They said the money recovered from
Abacha, I should account for it. What stupidity!
The man who asked for it, the man who gave the
judgement or who answered them are all stupid,
with due respect.
“I don’t keep account, all Abacha loots were sent
to Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and every bit of
it was reported to Minister of Finance. My job
was to write where we can get help to recover
the money.
Continue:
"Every penny that comes out of it went to CBN,
so if they want to know what happened to the
money, they should call CBN governor or call the
Minister of Finance.
“But again, it shows ignorance, total ignorance,
which is lacking and you wonder, are these people
educated? They can also approach the man who
helped us in recovering process to give the list of
money recovered and where he took it.”
On fluctuating oil price
On fluctuating oil price, Obasanjo said President
Buhari was lucky than he was, saying: “When I
assumed office in 1999, I inherited $3.7 billion in
reserve, while Buhari met $30 billion, almost 10
times of what I met then, and the price of oil
then was $9. When it got to $20, I was dancing.
“I know the price is down now and with time, it
will jump up again. What Buhari is doing currently
is preparing ground for Nigeria to take advantage
when it goes up again.”
Justifies Buhari's frequent foreign trips
Obasanjo, who justified Buhari's frequent foreign
trips, said President Buhari needed to get involved
in the world.
He said: “He needs to be known and to know
people. How do you make friends and influence
people except you know them and this cannot
happen if he sits in Aso Villa, especially in a
situation that we found ourselves, a situation
where we have bad image in the world, a
situation where we need to play leadership role,
especially in Africa, because during Jonathan’s
administration, Nigeria was not on the table.”
On Biafra agitation
Obasanjo, who described the Biafra agitation as a
platform for people of the South East to make
their voices heard, insisted that Biafra was dead.
He said: “I sympathise with people agitating in
the country, but what Nigeria needs to do now is
to get our economy back on track. When you
have a bad economic situation, such is expected.
So I did not see their cause as a threat but I see
it as a platform to get their voices heard.
“Like I said on January 15, the important,
authentic leaders of the South-East are concerned
about economic situation of Nigeria and I believe
when the situation changes tomorrow, these
young people will sing a new song.”
No regret putting Jonathan forward as President
While expressing no regrets in facilitating the
emergence of former President Goodluck
Jonathan as President, Obasanjo said his
objective had been achieved by making a minority
group to produce the president of Nigeria.
He said: “I believe that Nigeria politics will be
strengthened even more if we have the
opportunity to allow the minority in its own right
to emerge as President, and I do not have any
apology for anybody because the purpose I
wanted Nigeria to achieve had been achieved.
“That any Nigerian can become president, it is not
a regret for Nigeria and for me because Nigeria
gave him that opportunity, he used, abused,
misused as he wished and at the appropriate
time, Nigerians said thank you for what you have
done and what you have not done and Nigeria
said bye bye, which is the beauty of democracy.”
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