Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari behind closed doors yesterday focused mostly on strategies to dislodge corrupt elements from the National Assembly, a presidency source has disclosed to SaharaReporters.
During the meeting, which lasted for close to 2 hours, Obasanjo pointedly told Buhari that with a corrupt leadership led by Saraki at the National Assembly, he stands no chance of fighting corruption and moving the nation forward.
The two-time Nigeria leader then reportedly told Buhari he must be willing to outspend the Senate President in order to remove him and the other rogues from the National Assembly, giving several instances when he had to use such methods during his tenure to dislodge his enemies from the Assembly. Obasanjo had a reputation for deploying rich businessmen to offer irresistible bribes to lawmakers to meet his objectives.
He is said to have revealed to Buhari that members of the People’s Democratic Party who hid huge sums of money in Ghana and elsewhere are reorganizing to take power from him.
A flustered Buhari thanked Obasanjo, describing the former PDP leader as a “unique” person who could do the unthinkable.
He, however, responded that he could not in good conscience spend all the monies available to oust just a few people because he needed to show to Nigerians that he was elected to perform. Our source said he reiterated his wish to use lawful means to prosecute those members of the Assembly involved in corruption, but expressed disappointment in the judiciary, citing instances where judges have been compromised in ongoing cases.
Speaking further on Senate President Saraki, Buhari told Obasanjo that Saraki was an ambitious man who aspires to become president, but promised he would do everything legally possible to prosecute him for his acts of corruption.
SaharaReporters learnt later that the Attorney General of the Federation is dusting up files against former governors for prosecution. Saraki is said to be a top priority on the list, as Buhari is said to be opposed to any form of truce with the Senate President even though he is currently in talks with the Secretary to the Federal Government, the Director-General of the Department of State Security and the AGF.
On Saraki’s side, Senator Danjuma Goje, David Umaru, who is the Chair of the Senate's Judiciary Committee, and two others are reaching out to help Saraki resolve the ongoing forgery lawsuit against him and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.
As soon as Obasanjo left the meeting with Buhari, he spoke to State House reporters. Among others, he told them that his previously-expressed position on National Assembly members being full of rogues and robbers has been vindicated over the revelation that they padded the 2016 budget.
0 comments