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‘Obasanjo Should be Blamed on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Nigeria. From 1999 to 2007, he even made attempts to modify the constitution’ Onanuga fumes
The Presidency, on Monday, blamed former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the current state of Nigeria’s democracy.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who spoke to the Newsthumb noted that the democracy the country currently practises dates back to direct inputs by Obasanjo when he led the country’s first as military Head of State from 1976 – 1979 and as civilian President from 1999 – 2007.
“Obasanjo ought to know that he brought this thing into Nigeria. He was the one who made us adopt it in 1979. He must have seen it as expensive and unsuitable when he governed us for eight years and even wanted an extension for another four years.
“So, the way he is sounding, it is like the man is getting wiser after leaving office,” Onanuga said, reacting to Obasanjo’s post-presidential stance.
The Presidency’s response followed comments made by Obasanjo at the high-level consultation on Rethinking Western Liberal Democracy in Africa held at Green Resort Legacy, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.
Obasanjo had criticised Western democracy, suggesting it had not delivered good governance and development in Africa.
He called for a reexamination and moderation of democracy to better suit African nations, citing the Western model’s disregard for African history and complexities.
Obasanjo proposed an “Afro democracy” tailored to the continent’s unique needs.
The ex-president said the snag with the liberal democracy was that it was not home-grown and did not take into account African history and multicultural complexities, among other peculiarities.
Picking holes in the Western liberal democracy, Obasanjo described it as a “government of a few people over all the people or population and these few people are representatives of only some of the people and not fully representatives of all the people. Invariably, the majority of the people are wittingly or unwittingly kept out.”
According to him, African countries have no business operating a system of government in which they have no hands in its “definition and design.”
Obasanjo said, “The weakness and failure of liberal democracy as it is practised stem from its history, content and context and practice. Once you move from all the people to a representative of the people, you start to encounter troubles and problems.
“For those who define it as the rule of the majority, should the minority be ignored, neglected and excluded? In short, we have a system of government in which we have no hands to define and design and we continue with it even when we know that it is not working for us.
“Those who brought it to us are now questioning the rightness of their invention, its deliverability and its relevance today without reform. The essence of any system of government is the welfare and well-being of the people, all the people.”
He argued that Nigerians must “interrogate the performance of democracy in the West where it originated from and with us the inheritors of what we are left with by our colonial powers.”
But the Presidency blamed the former leader for a poorly copied model during his tenure as Head of State and, later, President.
It criticised Obasanjo for not advocating a better system despite his current views saying, “If he believes in what he is saying now, he ought to be an advocate of the need to go back to the parliamentary system.”
Onanuga added, “We were practicing the parliamentary democracy the British left for us. Then, the military struck in 1966. And when we were going to return to democracy, instead of going back to what we were practicing before, parliamentary democracy, which was not expensive, it was this same Obasanjo who accepted the recommendation of the constitutional assembly at that time that recommended this American-style democracy.”
The Presidency criticised Obasanjo’s implementation of the presidential system, saying, “Obasanjo also knew that he copied this presidential system very wrongly. He copied the form and structure. But he didn’t copy the spirit of it.”
“Something that should have been under him in 1999 to 2007, he even made attempts to modify the constitution,” Onanuga remarked.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday discharged Miss Comfort Emmason of charges bordering on unruly behaviour and assaulting the flight crew aboard an Ibom Air aircraft from Uyo to Lagos on Monday.
Magistrate Olanrewaju Salami struck out the five-count charge against Emmason after the police prosecution team withdrew the case.
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At the resumed hearing, prosecutor Oluwabunmi Adeitan informed the court of new developments that necessitated the withdrawal.
She tendered an application to the court for the withdrawal of the case, which was admitted by the court.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) on Monday grilled a former Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal over suspicious cash withdrawals of N189billion.
Tambuwal, who was in the custody of the anti-graft agency in Abuja, was expected to account for the questionable cash haul during his tenure.
The Ex-Governor, who arrived the EFCC’s Headquarters around 11:30am, was still facing interrogators on the alleged financial crime at press time.
It was unclear if the Ex-Governor will be detained overnight or not.
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A source in EFCC said: “He is being held over alleged fraudulent cash withdrawals to the tune of N189billion.
“The withdrawals are in flagrant violation of the Money Laundering( Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“We have isolated all the allegations for Tambuwal, it is left to him to respond. “
EFCC’s spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, declined comments on the matter
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has warned Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)’s staff against engaging in corrupt practices.
Mrs Ekere Usiere, ICPC Anti-Corruption Commissioner in charge of Rivers and Bayelsa state offices, gave the warning in a statement issued by NDDC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mrs Seledi Thompson-Wakama, in Port Harcourt on Friday.
According to the statement, Usiere spoke during the quarterly anti-corruption sensitisation workshop for NDDC staff and further warned that anybody caught in act would face the full wrath of law.
She acknowledged the critical role of the NDDC in the development of the Niger Delta region and stressed the importance of holding periodic meetings to sensitise staff against corrupt practices.
“NDDC staff must distance themselves from corruption, as anybody caught will be prosecuted in accordance with the law,” she stated.
Usiere explained that regular anti-corrupt workshops would enable NDDC employees to understand the impact of corruption on development and how to prevent it.
“This workshop themed, “Infractions/Offences in Anti-Graft Laws; Preventive Measures,” serves as an antidote to corrupt practices,” she said.
Also speaking, Dr Evans Peters, Head of Legal Department at ICPC in Rivers, urged the commission to strengthen its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit to enhance its effectiveness.
He further advised the NDDC to implement a system for continuous review of corruption-prone processes and procedures, and to develop a code of ethics that would include corruption prevention guidelines for staff.
According to Peters, it is an offence for an individual to inflate contracts, award contracts without budgetary provision, and frustrate investigations.
“In addition, any staff who make false statements and returns, fail to report bribery activities, and conspire to provide false information, or engage in similar acts will be prosecuted.
“Every public servant should take the ICPC Act as a Bible and internalise its tenets, as ICPC frowns heavily on gratification,” he said
Peters further warned that proceeds from crime, or anything beyond a worker’s legitimate income, remained subject to seizure by the government, with the offender still liable to prosecution.
“Anyone caught in corrupt practices could be sent to jail. The law does not condone ignorance,” he added.
Earlier, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, Managing Director of the NDDC, emphasised the importance of adopting measures to tackle corruption and entrench transparency in public service.
Represented by Dr James Fole, NDDC’s Director III of Administration and Human Resources, Ogbuku stated that the workshop formed part of a broader strategy to enhance service delivery in the commission.
“We are passionate about service delivery; hence, we organised this workshop to educate our staff on the need to avoid corrupt acts.
“We want our staff to work with diligence and uprightness while carrying out their duties,” he advised.
Ogbuku noted that the NDDC Board and Management would spare no effort to ensure that ethics and values would be firmly entrenched in the commission.
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