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Presidential Election Petition Fallout: Panicked Yar'adua Begs Obj

February 9, 2008

A panicky Umar Musa Yar'adua, beneficiary of Nigeria's stolen presidential election of April 2007, last Saturday (February 9, 2008) flew to Otta, Ogun State to chair the wedding of a son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The bridegroom was Major Boyede Obasanjo, the former president's son who serves in the Nigerian army.


An inside source at Otta informed Saharareporters that Yar’Adua’s high-profile attendance at the wedding was part of his desperate measures to repair relations with Obasanjo since this publication published an expose on Yar'adua's war chest of N7 billion and $30 million that he failed to declare in his much-publicized asset declaration.

With his “election” in jeopardy and Obasanjo’s aides threatening to reveal his corrupt deals, Alhaji Yar'adua has become anxious to take measures that would ingratiate him with a furious Obasanjo.

Last week, Saharareporters reported that Obasanjo and his close associates were irate at what one of them described as Yar’Adua’s “behind-the-scene efforts to rubbish Chief Obasanjo by talking about his expenditure of billions of dollars in the power sector.” The source, who is one of the former president’s closest confidantes, then told Saharareporters: “What Yar’Adua doesn’t understand is that we have more damaging information on him.”

In an attempt to mollify Obasanjo, Yar’Adua made a point of declaring him “my leader” during the wedding ceremony last week.

Our source revealed that the urgency of Yar’Adua’s efforts to reconcile with the former president has to do with information that Obasanjo was now working in the background with some opposition figures as well as his contacts in the judiciary to ease Yar’Adua out of his illegally acquired office. A member of Obasanjo’s team revealed that the former president has okayed their release of sensitive information about how the April 2007 elections were rigged. Noting that Yar’Adua has privately apologized to Obasanjo, the source said “even though Baba received him, the apology may have come too late. You know that, once offended, Baba doesn’t forgive easily.”

Although Yar'adua's office was yet to react officially to the revelations on his undeclared war chest as reported by Saharareporters, an e-mail sent to a reporter by his Chief Economic Adviser, the central figure in the N7 billion war chest saga, revealed the mindset of Yar'adua and members of his kitchen cabinet.

In reacting to the story, Mr. Tanimu Yakubu failed to address the core revelations. Instead, he launched into a harsh denial of reports that Yar'adua was already planning a re-run of the elections. “I have got what seemed to be your publication downloaded from your website with all the insinuations,” he wrote to the reporter, who had re-published Saharareporters’ exclusive report. “You have already done your worst, but out of respect for your humanity and professional callings, and also in deference to the right of your readers to know, I deny what I know nothing about.

“We are not thinking of an election re-run. You know better than I do. First, the plaintiff said he was rigged out of victory. The story soon changed to outright denial of the right to contest the election. Now we are told that there were no ballots for the election!

“See how the plaintiff found it so easy to transit from victimization to nonexistence and now to utter helplessness. Thank you for the belated fair hearing.” He signed the e-mail: “TY"

Despite Mr. Yakubu’s confident tone, our sources disclose that the Yar’Adua camp has been in panic mode since the Justice James Ogebe Presidential Election Tribunal concluded its public sitting last week.

A source told Saharareporters that the Appeal Court ruling that decisively upheld the invalidation of the Kogi State governorship elections did not help matters. As news filtered into the Federal Executive Council meeting last week about the Appeal Court ruling, all the cabinet ministers wore long faces and left the FEC meeting in low spirits.

A small drama was said to have played out when the removed Kogi State governor, Alhaji Idris, reportedly gave orders to his aides and commissioners to return to their respective positions, calculating that he would be allowed to remain in office till new elections are held. Upon learning of the directive, Yar'adua asked the Chief Justice to explain to Idris the implication of the ruling. In a furious tirade, the sacked governor called Yar'adua and fumed: “What kind of rule of law is that? What about you, what are you still doing in Aso Rock? Didn't we all rig the elections? As long as you are there in Aso Rock, I am going to remain in office in Lokoja too. No Jupiter can move me out of power.”

After issuing the threat, the sacked governor drove back to Lokoja in style, effectively returning to his office. On hearing of his arrival, the newly sworn-in "Acting Governor" took to his heels. As at press time, the IG of police was still making frantic efforts to get Idris to quit the Governor's Lodge in Lokoja, Kogi State.

“The mood in the Yar'adua camp is both of extreme fear of losing an election he didn't win and paranoia,” said an opposition figure from Alhaji Atiku Abubakar's camp.

Even though Obasanjo seems to have arm-twisted Yar'adua into accepting his continuation as the PDP’s Board of Trustee Chairman, many of Yar’Adua’s associates complained that the former president has not reciprocated. They pointedly blame Obasanjo for their troubles.

Last week, as part of Yar’Adua’s effort to reconcile with Obasanjo, his government quietly restored some of Mr. Andy Uba's police escort. Mr. Uba, who used to enjoy about fifty police officers, now has two policemen guarding him. Uba was seen maintaining a low profile at the burial ceremony of musical icon, Osita Osadebe last weekend.

At the same time, the Yar’Adua camp has piled immense pressure on Esther Nenadi-Usman, Obasanjo's former minister of finance. Our sources indicated that Nenadi-Usman was responsible for providing cash that was loaded onto a presidential plane and flown to South Africa to pay for ballot papers ordered by INEC four days before the presidential elections in April 2007.

Ms. Nenadi-Usman has hysterically complained to her associates about the harassment she has received from the Yar’Adua team following our report that linked her with the ballot paper mess.

While Yar'Adua is afraid of what Obasanjo’s moves to undo his mandate, his headache is compounded by the subtle opposition he faces from the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF). Members of the main northern socio-political body are said to be disappointed that Yar’Adua was still running scared of Obasanjo. Last week, a member of the ACF said the organization was not opposed to fresh elections. The statement signaled a thinking in the North that Yar'Adua's stolen mandate was hampering his ability to carry out the sub-region’s agenda. Part of that agenda is outright exposure of Obasanjo’s monumental graft. “For eight years, Obasanjo boasted to the world that he was clean and that he was fighting corruption. Yar’Adua has dossiers on Chief Obasanjo’s corruption, but he has decided to protect Obasanjo—even though Obasanjo did not protect those from the North who installed him in 1999,” said a spokesman of the ACF.

Our source indicated that the Arewa Consultative Forum's position showed that General Ibrahim Babangida (ret.) has greater influence than Yar’Adua over the electoral tribunals and executive members of the ACF.

A source told Saharareporters that IBB recently returned from France where he'd spent a quiet vacation and undergone medical check-ups. His first main pre-occupation is getting the Senate President, David Mark's, election cancelled by the electoral petition tribunals in Benue State. That plan is said to be on course, according to our source.

Even though Babangida has good rapport with Yar'adua, his interest in working towards the cancellation of the elections is two fold. One, as a rabid power monger, he has his eye set on returning to Aso Rock. Should that become impossible, his supporters say they want to help Yar'adua to overcome the Obasanjo factor by organizing a "snap poll" to get him legitimately elected. “Once he is free from Obasanjo's blackmailing control,” said one source, “Obasanjo will be forced to sit out his retirement in disgrace at Otta Farm.”


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