For attempting to extricate himself from the web of $1.09 billion Malabu oil deal, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has come under scathing attacks from Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose.
Fayose, in his second tirade against Obasanjo in two weeks, described the former President as “the father of corruption in Nigeria who sits on stolen wealth and lacks moral rights to accuse anyone of corruption.”
While challenging Obasanjo to explain to Nigerians his source of “stupendous wealth”, Fayose in a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication and New Media, Lere Olayinka, attacked Obasanjo for his alleged “holier-than-thou posture”, grandstanding and pontification on issues of corruption.
The chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum claimed that Obasanjo presided over one of the most corrupt administrations in the nation’s history.
He restated his call that the ex-leader should refund the N10 million he (Obasanjo) forced him (Fayose) to donate alongside other 29 governors to his presidential library project in 2005 with interest.
He said: “It smacked of the highest level of hypocrisy for someone like Obasanjo to be sermonizing about corruption, having superintended over a corrupt government himself.
“The former President must come out clean on his roles in the controversial $1.09 billion Malabu Oil deal, instead of warning former Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke to stop mentioning his name in the deal.
“It is on record that the out-of-court settlement on the controversial Malabu Oil Block was initiated in 2006 during Obasanjo’s administration. Obasanjo’s accusing anyone of corruption was like “Oyenusi accusing Shina Rambo of armed robbery.
“I challenge the former President to explain to Nigerians the source of his stupendous wealth. We saw how Obasanjo was when he became president and the magnitude of both direct and indirect investments that he has now. Can he in all honesty tell Nigerians that he acquired his wealth through legitimate means?
“Other Nigerians who left offices as President are still relevant to their people, but can the same be said about Obasanjo? Was he useful to the Yoruba race as President and now as former President?
“The bad state that he left major roads linking the Southwest to other zones in Nigeria, especially the Lagos-Ibadan expressway remains a pointer to this. Yet, he goes about postulating as if he is the only honest Nigerians who can make things right in the country.”