Obasanjo spoke during a lecture he
delivered at the First Akintola Williams Annual Lecture in Lagos titled,
“Nigeria yesterday, today and tomorrow: Governance and
accountability.’’
He said that it would have been needless
for Nigerians to cry for a change of government if things were rosy in
the country before Buhari took over.
The ex-President also faulted the
proposed borrowing of US$30bn by
the Buhari administration, arguing that
such would amount to taking the soft option capable of hurting the
country in future.
Besides, he cautioned Buhari against
castigating his administration alongside previous ones, describing such
as uncharitable, fussy and uninstructive.
According to Obasanjo, if the current
administration does not fix the economy to relieve the pain and anguish
of many Nigerians, the gains recorded in fighting insurgency and
corruption will pale into insignificance.
Obasanjo stated, “It is easier to win an
election than to right the wrongs of a badly fouled situation. When you
are outside, what you see and know are nothing compared with the
reality. And yet once you are on seat, you have to clear the mess and
put the nation on the path of rectitude, development and progress
leaving no group or section out of your plan, programme and policy and
efforts. The longer it takes, the more intractable the problem may
become.
“I understand President Buhari’s
frustration on the state of the economy inherited by him. It was the
same reason and situation that brought about cry for change, otherwise
there would be no need for change if it was all nice and rosy.
“Now that we have had change because the
actors and the situation needed to be changed, let us move forward to
have progress through a comprehensive economic policy and programme that
is intellectually, strategically and philosophically based.’’
He also warned that the anger of the
citizenry particularly the youth might be spurred if the current
administration did not get it right in good governance and
accountability.
Obasanjo also warned the Federal Government against the planned $30bn foreign it intended to take.
He said, “We immediately need loans to
stabilise our foreign reserve and embark on some infrastructure
development but surely not $30bn over a period of less than three years.
That was about the magnitude of the cumulative debt of Nigeria which we
worked and wiped out 10 years ago.
“Before that debt relief, we were
spending almost $3bn to service our debt annually and the quantum of the
debt was not going down. Rather, if we defaulted, we paid penalty which
was added on. Economy neither obeys orders nor does it work according
to wishes. It must be worked upon with all factors considered and most
stakeholders involved.
“The investors, domestic and foreign,
are no fools and they know what is going on with the management of the
economy including the foreign exchange and they are not amused. The
Central Bank must be restored to its independence and integrity. We must
be careful and watchful of the danger of short-termism. Short-term may be the enemy of medium and long-term.’’
Obasanjo took a swipe at the National
Assembly, describing it as a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed
robbers and stinking worse than the judiciary.
He said, “Once you are a member, you are
co-opted and your mouth is stuffed with rottenness and corruption that
you cannot opt out as you go home with not less than N15m a month for a
senator and N10m a month for a member of the House of Representatives.
The National Assembly is a den of corruption by a gang of unarmed
robbers.’’
He said, “If the judiciary is being
cleaned, what of the National Assembly which stinks much worse than the
judiciary? Budget padding must not go unpunished. It is a reality, which
is a regular and systemic practice. Nobody should pull wool over the
eyes of Nigerians. Ganging up to intimidate and threaten the life of a
whistle-blower is deplorable and undemocratic.’’
He also accused the National Assembly of using ‘so-called constituency projects’ as a conduit for corruption.
“These constituency projects are spread
over the budget for members of the National Assembly for which they are
the initiators and the contractors directly or by proxy and money would
be fully drawn with the project only partially executed or not executed
at all. The National Assembly cabal of today is worse than any cabal
that anybody may find anywhere in our national governance system at any
time,” he said.
According to him, members of the National Assembly pay themselves allowances for staff and offices they do not have or maintain.
Stating that like the judiciary, the
National Assembly cannot clean itself, he lamented how the re-current
budget of the lawmakers with the so-called constituency projects had
ballooned since the inception of the current democratic dispensation.
Obasanjo stated, “Our lawmakers are
lawbreakers. They are the accused, the prosecutor, the defenders and the
judge in their own case. Most of them conduct themselves and believe
that they are not answerable to anybody. They are blatant in their
misbehaviour, cavalier in their misconduct and arrogant in the misuse of
parliamentary immunity as a shield against reprisals for their
irresponsible acts of malfeasance and/or outright banditry.’’
The ex-President urged Buhari to ride on
the popularity of current happenings in the judiciary to establish a
highly technical team of incorruptible investigators to investigate the
so-called constituency projects of the past and the present and bring
culprits to book.
He faulted a situation where a person
supposed to be screened by the National Assembly for public appointment
would be told to give a bow without any screening because he or she was
an ex-lawmaker.
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