A former Chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees, Tony Anenih, said he blocked
ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar from succeeding former President
Olusegun Obasanjo.
Anenih stated this in his book, titled ‘My Life and Nigerian Politics,’ which was presented
in Abuja on Saturday.
Anenih, who served as the Minister of
Works and Housing between 1999 and 2002, said Abubakar became too
ambitious during the build-up to the 2003 presidential election in which
Obasanjo was seeking a second term.
“As a result of my preparations for
Chief Obasanjo’s second tenure, I stepped on the toes of many of those
who did not want him to seek a second term. These are the people I can
now refer to as members of the ‘G3’. These were General Ibrahim
Babangida, (ex-) Vice- President Atiku Abubakar and the (ex-) National
Security Adviser, General Aliu Gwarzo.
“There was no other way I could have
offended the vice-president other than that I prevented him from being
PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2003 presidential election. He
erroneously believed that he was the only politician at the Villa and
that he was better qualified than the President. I was well ahead of him
in all his plans to prevent Chief Obasanjo from running (for
re-election).”
Anenih, however, noted that after
blocking Abubakar, the former vice-president also ensured that he
(Anenih) lost his position in Obasanjo’s cabinet.
The former PDP BoT Chairman also claimed that he was the one who made Atiku second-in-command in 1999.
He said after the PDP presidential
primary of 1998, the then Chairman of the party, Solomon Lar,
recommended three northerners to be Obasanjo’s running mate.
The three nominees were Prof. Jerry Ghana, Abubakar Rimi and Adamu Ciroma.
Lar was said to have told Obasanjo that Rimi was his preferred candidate but Obasanjo wasn’t convinced.
Anenih, according to the book, then
advised Obasanjo to pick Atiku, who had just won the governorship
election in Adamawa State and was waiting to be sworn in.
He added, “I asked Obasanjo whether he
would want a vice-president that would give him absolute confidence and
allow him to sleep with his two eyes closed or whether he would want a
vice-president he did not trust.
“He answered that he would like to sleep
with his two eyes closed. It was at this point that I asked him: ‘What
about Atiku?’ Chief Obasanjo’s answer was that Atiku had just won his
governorship election and the law might not allow him to come on board
as his running mate.
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