“One of the former Heads of State between
that time was bragging that he spent more than
15 billion American dollars, on power,” the
President said.
“Where is the power? Where is the power? And
now we have to pay the debts.”
READ MORE: Buhari Blasts Ex-President For
Spending $16bn On Power With No Results
Although President Muhammadu Buhari did not
directly mention the name of the former
President he was talking about, the Obasanjo
administration has been repeatedly accused of
spending up to $16bn on power with little to
show for it.
The former President also believes the
criticism was targeted at his administration and
reacted to it in a statement a few hours after
President Buhari’s comments were published.
In the statement signed by Mr Akin Osuntokun,
Director of Strategic Communications of the
Coalition for Nigeria Movement, which he
founded, Obasanjo accused President Buhari of
playing politics with statistics.
The former President said the comments by the
President “once again” demonstrated that the
President was incompetent.
“Is it not beneath the dignity of the exalted
office he holds to join the chorus of beer
parlour gossips?” he asked.
“How can a president who has all the
information at his beck and call degenerate to
this level?”
According to the former President, the claim
that his administration spent $16bn on power
was the result of propaganda aimed at
demarketing him.
The statement read in part, “A presidential
panel headed by the then VP Goodluck
Jonathan set up by the Umaru Yar’Adua
government put a lie to this after the same
administration had sacked one Engr F. Somolu
the then Secretary of NIPP who first drew
attention to the lie: that $16 had been spent on
power project.
“The Panel made up of so many actors
including CBN officials then found out that
only $3.7 billion was disbursed out of the $10
billion budgeted and the balance was kept in an
escrow account at the CBN.
“The CBN confirmed this to the panel and it was
published…It was then found out that Tanimu
Yakubu then Economic Adviser to President
Yar’Adua began the propaganda against former
President Obasanjo and Engr. Somolu then with
Yar’Adua wrote a secret memo inside the
statehouse to correct the wrong notion about
$10 billion.”
Obasanjo and Buhari have had a long history
dating back to their days in the Army with
Buhari serving as Minister of Petroleum when
Obasanjo was head of state.
The former President also supported President
Buhari in the 2015 presidential elections and
visited the President more than once in the
Presidential Villa in during the first two years
of his administration.
But the relationship between both men
gradually turned sour and took a turn for the
worse in January this year when Obasanjo
released a long statement criticising the
President and warning him against seeking re-
election.
Comments
Post a Comment