Samuel Awoyinfa, Abeokuta
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has
faulted the claim by a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ishaya
Bamaiyi, that he (Obasanjo) planned to kill the former army chief.
Wondering why he would want to kill
Bamaiyi, Obasanjo stated that his government between 1999 and 2007
arrested the former COAS to clear his name for allegedly killing other
people during the reign of military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha.
He said this on Sunday at his
Presidential Hilltop residence in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital while
hosting members of the Ogun State Correspondents’ chapel.
The former President argued that the
former Chief of Army Staff was arrested by law enforcement agencies in
the country for alleged criminal acts.
Bamaiyi, in his recent book,
‘Vindication of A General’, accused Obasanjo of plotting to kill him to
scuttle any plan by the former army chief from toppling his
administration.
In the book, Bamaiyi stated, “Upon
handing over power to Gen. Obasanjo in May 1999, Gen. (Abdulsalami)
Abubakar told the new civilian President that he must rein in General
Bamaiyi, else, he would overthrow the new government and from that
moment, General Aliyu Gusau, the then National Security Adviser, and
President Obasanjo made it a duty to imprison me by all means.
“When Obasanjo took over, some Peoples
Democratic Party big shots decided that based on the report, I had
control of the Army and should be arrested. The government looked for
avenues to arrest me.
“They started by checking Army accounts to see if I had stolen money.”
When reacting to Bamaiyi’s allegations,
Obasanjo, who was visibly angry, denied any plot by his government to
kill Bamaiyi, but admitted his regime arrested him to ensure that he
answered for his misdeeds.
Obasanjo added, “That I wanted to kill
him? What of the people he allegedly killed? My government did not plot
to kill him. My government asked him to answer for those that were
alleged to have been killed by him and that is legitimate.
“That is if there is an allegation that
you have done something, that you have committed a crime, then you are
arrested; you should answer. That’s all; pure and simple!
“Who the hell is he that I would want to
kill him? Kill him for what? To achieve what? No! There were
allegations, the police and the law enforcement agencies decided to look
into the allegations.
“They invited him and they asked him to
answer as a result of what was found, so they charged him to court. So,
it’s now up to him, the investigators, as I said, the prosecutors and
the judiciary. That’s all.”
Obasanjo suggested a three-pronged
approach of thorough investigation, diligent prosecution and ensuring
that the judiciary is committed as a better way of fighting corruption.
This approach, he believed, would make
anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related
Offences Commission more effective.
The former President asked the
anti-graft bodies to utilise the lawyers in its fold rather than
engaging lawyers from outside the agencies to handle the prosecution of
their cases.
Obasanjo believed that lawyers from
outside the agencies might deliberately file a weak case just to give
the other party an advantage.
He said, “To make the anti-graft
agencies more effective, we need more light than heat. I was reading
today when the President said the EFCC should stop losing cases.
They lose cases for a number of reasons.
One, they engage more of outside lawyers. I believe that they need
staunch ‘ogbologbo’ lawyers inside (within the agencies) that will do
the work.
“If I am a lawyer and I want the
opponent to win a case, what I will file will be wishy-washy. And if I
file a wishy-washy case, the opponent will see the loophole and he will
get out of it. I believe that it is important.
“Secondly, thorough investigation is
very important. Now, investigation must be thorough, it must be proper
and it must be really taking seriously.
“Our judges must be committed to
fighting corruption because if the investigation is very sound and you
have ‘ogbologbo’ lawyers to handle cases, if you have ‘Salamigate’ you
know what the answer will be.
“So it is a line – investigation,
prosecution and the judiciary. If there is a weakness along this line,
chances are that corruption cases will continue to be lost.”
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