Why I allowed Abacha arrest me - Obasanjo | Welcome to Linda Ikeji's Blog

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Saturday 25 July 2015

Why I allowed Abacha arrest me - Obasanjo

Former President Obasanjo has disclosed reasons why he allowed former head of state, Sani Abacha to arrest him in March 1995 for allegedly conspiring abroad against the Abacha regime, despite many opportunities to escape and accept an offer of political asylum by the US.

Leadership  reports
Obasanjo was among the opposition lights that were against the regime of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who ordered their arrest, trials and sentences but spared their lives due to international pressure. Abacha was the most senior military officer in the illegal contraption called Interim National Government led by Chief Ernest Shonekan after the military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, was forced to resign over the historic annulment of the June 12 June, 1993 election won by Moshood Abiola, who later died in the military gulag.

In his newest controversial memoir, ‘My Watch’, he narrated his opposition to the Abacha regime which led him to the formation of National Unity Organisation which he intended to use to force Abacha to quit power.


According to his narrative, Obasanjo had been meeting with some leading politicians and non-politicians in every part of the country on the need to free the country from the jackboot of Abacha whom he said, “was so much below average as an officer that no serious attention was paid to him until he was made to announce the coup.

“I was not in doubt that Abacha would attempt to silence me. This was clear from his apparent ambition for life presidency of Nigeria in insatiable appetite for corruption; his looting directly from the Central Bank; his need to silence everyone that could oppose him in any form; his actions towards my close friends and associates and his close surveillance of me by his security both within and outside Nigeria.”
Obasanjo recalled how during his visit to Kenya for the funeral of the father of the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, where the Nigerian Embassy officials wrote a report indicting him, stating that “since Odinga was in opposition to the government of Kenya when he died, I had gone to Kenya to create problems for the Kenyan government by supporting the opposition, and the Nigerian government should restrain me from causing great problems between Nigeria and Kenya.”

Narrating further, Obasanjo said,

“Rumours about Abacha taking action against me started to spread and ring louder and louder. I had no fear because I had done nothing to cause me fear or anxiety. I was about my life and my business unperturbed.”
Source: Leadership

68 comments:

Unknown said...

See

AbokiDaWarriBoy said...

Are all this necessary now when we have better issues on ground??? Hai... lets look for a better Nigeria than bringing back old shits!

Unknown said...

Y u no talk am wen em dey alive

Anonymous said...

Attention seeker. Give it a rest.

Unknown said...

Old man's talk....I'd rather pass....

BONARIO NNAGS said...

He is the luckiest Nigerian, he should very grateful to God.
Abacha would have ended his existence like he did others if not for his God.

~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA LUMIA

AC£S said...

Noted

Unknown said...

March 1995?was still in the womb then..

Anonymous said...

Baba you don dey make mouth now, that time na beg you dey beg o!.

Unknown said...

See dis greedy monkey. U re d cause of d problem they re having in dis nigeria.

Anonymous said...

In the final narration, abeg I wan ask question o!. Na Obj speak that big big grammer?!

Unknown said...

If Abacha hadn't died, OBJ would have been a dead man. So he should thank his stars.



#TeamBlessed#

Anonymous said...

And Buhari can boldly open his mouth to say that he won't probe Abacha's collaborators and ministers from that evil regime? Despite the fact that he has been shown bank accounts containing billions of dollars of some of those people from that regime?

Anonymous said...

Helloooo, am I the only one wondering why there is the cut toff mark to query corruption to just GEJ's tenure. The was massive looting of state funds under Obasanjo and Babangida. Surely Obasanjo's tenure is recent enough to investigate. I am sorry but instead of going into every single instance of looting (big and small) in the last administration, I would look to investigate the largest incidents of looting including the how many billions that dissapeared in Babangida's era. All round the world that is how things are gone. You target based on value not just on time. Think of the amount of money the country stands to get back if we start chasing after all the biggest theives from the past!!
If Buhari is serious with his message about corruption, he should make it clear there is no time limit and target the larger scale looting incidents. The moral of this his approach is just
1. As a sitting president, never concede defeat to anyone
2. At the end of your tenure, make sure you pass on to a friendly administration - like Obasanjo did, as they will not probe you and it will be considered too old to probe even if that administration looses out to a hostile administration.
I can see no credible reason for him limiting his probe to just the last administration. If he can break his word about not probing GEJ's administration, surely he can break his word and at the very least probe all the large scale looting that has taken place to ensure people know there is no time limit. As he is probing the oil sector he should probe it right back to Shagari's era!!!
That is the only message Nigerian's will understand, that even if you get away with things, 40 years later, some other president could still look into things so there is no point in stealing public funds!!! It galls me every time I see OBJ swaggering around mouthing off about what is needed to move Nigeria forward. That is no different from waking up to see the armed robber who broke into your house last week preaching in church about how people need to be Godly.
This country needs a proper audit of it's books from as far back as possible. We can build more jails to accomodate the new inmates. I am sure NYSC participants would be honoured to help build them all over the country. After all contrary to the common perception in Nigeria, jails are not meant for just the hungry man on the street who steals a loaf of bread in the market or a mobile phone to sell to get money for food

Anonymous said...

We will bring back old shuts because the money needs to be brought back too.

Unknown said...

Dis is y God blessed OBJ and allowed him to rule Nigeria despite his imperfections he stil remain one of d best leaders Nigerians hav.

I hav b a ex strong critics of OBJ until I learnt dat in order to move Nigeria forward we must apr8 everyone irrespective of how they might hav b.

God bless Baba OBJ and I wish him all d best. Thumbs up and more power to his elbows.

Anonymous said...

While now u for talk am wen him dey alive,you dey seek attention.

AbokiDaWarriBoy said...

* aren't *

Anonymous said...

Frankly speaking, you should have remained there.

JustifiedJohn said...

Contact me for Sure American Visa with Zero Deposit (No down payment until ur visa is out) 08038253050 @john_ife #AbsoluteSuccess #Visa Pin:23A1EAB9

Anonymous said...

I'm in tears here. You couldn't have said it any better.

Unknown said...

Baba Iyabo what's with the history biko??? Linda take note!

Unknown said...

Baba Iyabo what's with the history biko??? Linda take note!

NaijaDeltaBabe said...

Story

Anonymous said...

U r ignorant

Unknown said...

Choi oxyn dis person finish u...lwkmd.hahahahaha biko take it easy ooooo la

Unknown said...

Hmmm

Anonymous said...

You should have rotted in Jail

Anonymous said...

SEE PEOPLE PROBING IMMIDIATE PAST GOVERNMENT. BUHARI NOW WANTS TO DO SAME AND THEY ARE ACCUSING HIM. STMCHEW. NIGERIANS SHOULD BE PROBED ON THE PAGES OF NEWSPAPER BECAUSE WE RUN A DEMOCRATIC TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT. EVERY PROBE SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT TO THE PUBLIC. IT IS JUST LIKE YOU SAYING WE SHOULD NOT EXPOSE AN ARMED ROBBER. WHY SHOULD WE HIDE SOMEONE THAT STOLE NIGERIA'S MONEY? STMCHEW

Unknown said...

so in love with the money now.. i aint neva letting go!

Unknown said...

Hahahaha this anon...you are mean abeg
Nma's Space 

Remi Abioye said...

Leave GMD to start from somewhere. It can extend to other regimes later if necessary. Why did GEJ not do the same during his time if he didn't have intention to hide something?

Unknown said...

a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
.
I cant fit read all those stuff....
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***

Anonymous said...

Typical of his like Typical of his like

Unknown said...

Now I know

Unknown said...

Baba Iyabo

Ladun Liadi said...

Trying to stay relevant...

Unknown said...

For u to have tym to said all dis, it means u re a PDP man....d must Probe Jonathan whether u like it or not...wicked people! do u remember wen the wanted paying every graduate 20k? Was it not David Mark dat stop it...

Anonymous said...

VERULe says-Y nw Obj.

Mihearty said...

*yawns* next pls. Allow the dead to rest old monkey

Anonymous said...

After Abacha family will go around posting their loots on the social media. Shameless morons

Anonymous said...

I have made commentary several times about not only setting up probe against the Goodluck administration but from the IBB administration till date. Most especially that of IBB and Abacha. If Buhari dares to probe Jonathan and leave out his fellow northerners that have amassed so much wealth through the looting of the treasury, he would be the GREATEST JOKER of a president. Buhari also have to investigate the political killings from the administration of IBB to OBJ. Nigerians want to know those that were involved in the killings of Dele Giwa, Ken Saro Wiwa and Bola Ige. I would also add that some dishonest people who are clamoring that buhari should only probe the jonathan regime are doing it for their hatred of jonathan and nothing else. In the US, any administration can probe into the activities of past administration dating back to 50 years or more. So where is it in the Nigeria Constitution that buhari can only probe the jonathan regime, pls tell me?

Anonymous said...

How so, knowitall

Unknown said...

Abeg commit joor.Mr.big mouth!

Anonymous said...

It wasn't OBJ game but God ways of doing things... he was at South Africa during Mandela burial... Dia is still time to correct his mistakes. #KayRayo#

Anonymous said...

Lucky he is.... not his power but God

Stlanre said...

I Concur

Anonymous said...

Lmfao @ anon 11:25 why evils?

Golda Awosika said...

Dat's some epic reply mehn, lol
#*karlishah*

Golda Awosika said...

Ds old fucktad, e us one of Nigeria's problems
#*karlishah*

Unknown said...

My sister, you talk true.
Why now?

Anonymous said...

This is a very intelligent write up. You need to add the following points:

1. OBJ was an instigator against Abacha and being a real man Abacha treated his fuck up. GEJ was not man enough to do that

2. You cant teach an old dog new tricks. Therefore if PMB fails to dance to OBJ tunes, then OBJ will repeat his same act of instigation against his government

3. GEJ lacked historical knowledge about politics thats why he failed to compete well in the last election. Fayose would never have lost out if he were in his shoes

4. If PDP is serious minded they should put Fayose in charge of that party

5. PMB has just shown that he is repaying everyone who was instrumental to his election with protection from EFCC viz OBJ, Abdulsallam, Jaggabang, TY Danjuma and others.

6. The reality of life is that PMB lacks the intelligence to get back even $100m from everyone he probes in GEJ govt in 4 years

Anonymous said...

Look it is evident from the recent appointments of Adesina and Arunma Oteh at ADB and WB that GEJ didnt surround himself with idiots. Even Okonjo and Diezani WB and OPEC leaders.

It will be difficult for PMB to recover even $5m altogether in 4 years from anyone in GEJ govt.

The best he can do is harrass them with EFCC, malign them on the pages of the newspapers, and basically fuck around for the next 4 years.

He appears to be plugging those PDP guys with real ambition in the next election to help APC win their States. He is too uneducated to realise that Nigerians are politically aware now.

He fails to realise that APC govs are not particularly performing today and arent really loved. Nigerians have had enough of Tinubu in SW. So whatever he is doing is a double edged sword.

Anonymous said...

Buhari was in Abachas govt as ptf boss, its shooting yourself in the foot probing a govt u were a part off.

Frankie Nkk said...

Lmao...seriously he shud ve remained there

Anonymous said...

Well spoken bro. U just spoke my mind. Dat bastard called Obj owns a university n a farm worth billions. I sure kno dat d military man isn't allowed to do biz oda dan service. So how cum he gat such assets? And he has d moral justification to open his old mouth to preach corruption. Naija Don suffer. Chai!

Anonymous said...

Nigeria, a failed state. Even the so called places of truth now preach lies.

Anonymous said...

Who can correct OBJ from among d Yoruba's should pls do

Anonymous said...

Exactly my dear.

Anonymous said...

That is not the only investigation that the buhari should conduct. The Nigerian people want all those involved in political killings to be brought to justice. We want to know those that killed Dele Giwa, Bola Ige, Ken Saro Wiwa and MKO ABIOLA and let them pay with their lives. Buhari should not be all bark and no bite. That is why he was elected

Anonymous said...

Obj. is the founder of corruption in Nigeria. From 2.8 Billion 1979 till date. Billions of dollars has been stolen by this SO CALL OBJ. Who is to be blame in a country were there is no justification ????

Unknown said...

baba, always on action. tell us the story

Anonymous said...

buka Rainy - You really are sexist, what makes you think every anonymous commenter is a guy? I am sorry to dissapoint you but I am very female :)

Babyboiynk said...

K

Anonymous said...

Seconded. Very thoughtful and instructive observations.

Anonymous said...

Baba! no worry we never forget you, so no need to advertise yourself you be cowbell!!!

Anonymous said...

Baba! no worry we never forget you, so no need to advertise yourself you be cowbell!!!

Unknown said...

Ok

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