In Abuja, you are on his trail: the newly crowned Nigeria’s Senate President—the No.3 most powerful man in Nigeria. And there he sat, holed up on the sixth floor of a five-star hotel that is now his temporary abode.
He is dressed casually in a shirt on a pair of trousers. On this night, he is not in the mood to grant any interview to a paper he believes has declared a “war†on him. We try our best to cajole him:
“Sir, how can we declare war on you? How can we fight a war with a man whose life and training are all about how to fight and win a war? It is just like standing on the way of a moving train or a trailer. You will simply be crushed. And we don’t want to be crushed.â€
He is amused by the sagacity of this MKO Abiola-like proverb. And he replies us with a witty quote of his own, parodying the famous French military strategist, Napoleon Bonaparte: “How can I fight the press and hope to win? I am not that foolish. A battalion of soldiers cannot go to war with the press and win.â€
It was against that background that we reached an accord to jaw-jaw instead of war-war. Having made peace, we fired our questions and he returned fire. Excerpts:
Currently, there is this impression that you are not in good terms with General Ibrahim Babangida. What is responsible for the disagreement?
I am not aware of any disagreement and he has never told me of any disagreement between me and him. He spoke to me yesterday. There was nothing in his voice to show disagreement. One of the very first persons who phoned me after my election was General Babangida. And since then we’ve spoken two, three times. So, I don’t believe that story. There is no reason to be against me. We have been friends. I was his minister. I was a member of the Armed Forces Ruling Council when he was President and Commander-In-Chief. And when he was in the army, I served under him as a Signal Commander.
There is this notion that you were anti-June 12. Has your opinion about June 12 changed today or are you still against June 12?
I don’t understand the problem people have with me and June 12, but I have said it 101 times that I was not a party to the annulment of June 12. When it happened, I did in fact condemn and said it was not the best for the country. And I had on several occasions said that I met with (General) Diya. What worries me is that nobody ever bothers to check whether what I said is true or false, except that they stick to the fact that I was party to the annulment of June 12. They paint all sorts of terrible pictures: How I held a gun over Babangida’s head and said if he didn’t annul June 12, I was going to shoot him. The army does not operate that way. It is a figment in the imagination of so many people. Nothing near that happened. Yes, I was in Babangida’s administration and to that extent anybody who was in that administration must take his share of the blame but where does the buck stop? There is somebody who was in charge. If anything happens in the Senate now, I would take full responsibility for it. And I don’t think Babangida himself has ever, one day, told anybody that I held a gun over his head. But that was the story people want to hear. That’s the story people tell. My stand has always been very clear on the issue of June 12.
You said you met Diya. What for?
Diya himself knows that I was never a party to the annulment of June 12. And Diya, myself and Abiola met. Not once, not twice. Diya is alive today. If I was saying only Abiola, then somebody would say, well, we can’t ask him again. But Diya is alive. Go and ask Diya.
What did you tell Abiola
I told him I was never a party to the annulment of June 12. And he himself admitted that. That’s why I am saying Diya is alive. It is better for you also to make contacts with Diya.
So, why was June 12 annulled?
How would I know?
Obasanjo is saying that June 12 was annulled on account of ‘bad belle.’ What does he mean?
What does Obasanjo mean by bad belle? What is the meaning of bad belle? There is a saying in my place that when a dreamer is alive, why are you going to somebody else to ask what the other person dreamed about? Babangida is alive. Why do you want somebody to be interpreting what he did? I have read Babangida’s interviews and he has not one day said he didn’t take full responsibility for the annulment of June 12. He has always accepted responsibility for it.
How do you see Obasanjo’s new posture as a supporter of June 12?
But he has never been against June 12. To the best of my knowledge, I have never heard him say something in support of the annulment.
It is obvious Obasanjo doesn’t like Abiola
I don’t know the relationship between Abiola and Obasanjo. I didn’t ask Abiola and I didn’t ask Obasanjo.
sunnewsonline.com
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