A Fight For A
Future
By
Joseph Adeyeye
culled from THIS DAY, September 2,
2005
Unalloyed loyalty was
the major attribute President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted in a vice president when
he began shopping for one after his PDP primary triumph in 1999. Alhaji Bamangar
Tukur, Professor Jibril Aminu, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi and Abubakar Atiku were the
candidates presented by the power blocs that made up the PDP. Given their status
and accomplishments, any of the four men could have been Obasanjo´s pick. But as
Obasanjo rightly surmised then, none of them fitted the bill better than Atiku.
Of the four men only Atiku had spent the months preceding the elections working
very closely with Obasanjo and ensuring that all his wishes as regards his
presidential aspiration were carried out. So, it was not surprising that Atiku
was the one Obasanjo chose although the time he spent making up his mind was one
filled with suspense. Neither was Atiku the punter`s choice. Many of the PDP
stalwarts who awaited the announcement of Obasanjo`s choice were sure it was
going to be General Ibrahim Babangida`s candidate, Prof. Aminu. Aminu was an
insider in the IBB regime and his closeness to Babangida was also responsible
for his survival of the two cabinet purges and the plush posting as Nigeria’s
ambassador to the US. But that connection did little to sway Obasanjo’s mind as
he held on to his choice. Perhaps, Obasanjo paid a greater stock on loyalty.
Thus, it is not strange that when the President finally spoke on some aspects of
the long speculated strain in the relationship of the two men, loyalty was a
major sore point.
“If I have given my word you either believe it or not but people who know me
know that I don’t talk frivolously. When there was a case of doubtful loyalty on
the part of the Vice President, I took the Bible and the Koran and said between
the two of us, I want you to swear to an oath of loyalty…but he refused to swear
because there were proven cases of disloyalty on his part…it was bad enough,”
the president said, during the last presidential media chat.
In the
Beginning…
Fresh out of prison in 1999, Obasanjo lacked a political base. His emergence as
the presidential flagbearer of the PDP, the strongest and biggest of the three
parties registered, was itself the result of a novel cooperation between the
civil and military power establishment. The ruling military establishment
brought him out of prison, granted him a pardon and provided a big chunk of the
funds used for electioneering. The non-military political establishment provided
him funds and a platform to reach the voters. Atiku was the face of that
civilian political establishment. He was not the oldest or most experienced of
the political gladiators that lined up behind Obasanjo but he emerged the most
influential. The Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) which he heads ingested the
other groups in the PDP and played a major role in Obasanjo´s Blitzkrieg of a
victory in the 1999 presidential elections. Atiku´s ascendancy began after the
incarceration of the group’s founder, late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. Atiku
became a rallying point for the group at a point when Yar´Adua’s absence was
threatening the PDM with extinction. It was to Atiku’s standard that that this
political family flowed. And Atiku with his immense pre-1999 wealth and astute
political skills had little problem in winning the loyalty of the members of the
group and welding them into the formidable political bloc it became. Such that
by the time the PDP was going to be formed in 1999 the PDM quickly emerged as a
dominant faction among the groups that formed the party. Thanks largely to
Atiku’s generousity and enormous goodwill among PDP grassroots cadre the group
made short mince of other groups such as the remnants of the old G-34, the old
NPN stalwarts dominated All Nigeria Congress (ANC) led by Chief Sunday Awoniyi
and the recluse Social Progressive Party (SPP). A source who was in the very
center of the events of that period confirmed that Obasanjo’s choice of Atiku
was not only as a result of the latter’s headship of the PDM but also because he
believed his future deputy would be very loyal.
“The president said he chose Atiku because he knew him through Yar’Adua and
Yar’Adua was very, very loyal to him,” the source said. In his lifetime, while
he served as Obasanjo’s deputy during military rule, Yar’Adua was very loyal to
Obasanjo. Although it has been said that the duo of Yar’Adua and former Chief of
Army Staff, Lt. Gen T.Y Danjuma ran Obasanjo’s military government with Obasanjo
himself being only a titular head those who worked closely with them at the time
said the two never gave Obasanjo any reason to doubt their loyalty. A source
said but for Obasanjo’s intervention the presidential primaries that late M.K.O
Abiola won to emerge SDP presidential candidate in the June 12, 1993 polls would
have gone the way of the then powerful, Baba Gana Kingibe. “But Obasanjo called
Yar’Adua and told him to support Abiola,” a PDP stalwart who played a major role
in the SDP politics of the late nineties said. According to him, Yar’Adua’s
response was an immediate, “Yes Sir!”.
Perhaps all this was at the back of Obasanjo’s mind when he called Atiku in 1999
and told him he was going to be his deputy. According to information gathered
by THISDAY, Obasanjo’s request shocked Atiku.
"Turaki, are you prepared to take orders from me?" Obasanjo asked.
"Ah, I have always taken instructions from you, sir" Atiku replied, "because you
are a general."
"Okay you are my vice-president", Obasanjo told Atiku, "go and break the news to
the party leaders!"
The Mobiliser…
Obasanjo’s choice was also the result of his accurate reading of the important
position which Atiku held in the emerging political structure. Before PDM
succeeded in rendering other groups in the PDP impotent the group had proven
itself as capable of coming up with a huge war chest at short notice and putting
hundreds of thousands of PDP grassroots foot soldiers to work in little time.
Indeed, but for the bigger war chest which the military establishment placed at
the disposal of the Obasanjo campaign machinery (Obasanjo’s single and
unexpected donation of N130 million to the PDP shortly after he signified his
intention to run caused no little consternation among his less endowed
contenders) Atiku’s contribution to the campaign would probably have been the
biggest.
Atiku who retired from Customs after 20 years service plunged into business
almost immediately garnering diverse holdings in Oil Services, Insurance,
Pharmaceutical Industries, Agriculture and the Media.
Atiku started out in politics as one of Yar’Adua’s closest deputies. Atiku’s was
a recurring decimal in Yar’Adua’s ill fated and ultimately fatal ambition to
rule the country. It was from Yar’Adua that he learnt that a true power broker
is one who has almost limitless funds at his disposal. While planning for a
career in politic’s Yar’Adua realized that he needed to have some form of
independent financial power to be able to achieve his dream of ruling Nigeria.
As a result, Yar’Adua devoted the period preceding the lifting of the ban on
political activities by the Babangida regime to the acquisition of wealth. He
invested in diverse businesses and tried to build a network of business cum
political associates across the country. Yar’Adua met Atiku while trying to
clear a consignment of beans at one of the nation’s ports. Atiku helped him.
Yar’Adua was impressed with the efficient way Atiku handled the affair. And soon
after they became friends. Atiku’s exit from the Customs in 1989 coincided with
the resurgence of political activities. Atiku joined Yar’Adua who was neck deep
in the intrigues and ‘politricks’ of the period. Yar’adua’s Peoples Front of
Nigeria (PFN) was a very formidable force and Atiku, Lawal Kaita and others were
some of Yar’Adua’s closest deputies. Among these very dependable allies it soon
became obvious that Atiku had all it takes to be a good politician and leader.
Atiku, who grew up an orphan, having lost his parents at age eight, and having
been ignored by relatives that could help, had little problem fending for
himself. But his political experience was little, though he had played some bit
of student politics in his student days. While at the School of Hygiene, Kano,
Atiku was the President of the Students’ Union and at the Ahmadu Bello
University, Zaria, he was Assistant Secretary General of the Students Union and,
at a time, Deputy Speaker of the Students parliament.
During the period, Atiku learnt a lot from Yar’Adua. With careful planning and
the help of Atiku and others Yar’Adua successfully transmuted PFN into a
formidable force that dealt great blows to the established political parties.
After the creation of two political parties by the Babangida regime, the PFN
moved into the SDP. But Yar’Adua’s attempt to capture power came to an abrupt
end when the Babangida regime cancelled the SDP and NRC primaries and
disqualified the parties’ two presidential candidates, Yar’Adua and Adamu Ciroma.
That disqualification paved way for the emergence of Atiku as the presidential
aspirant of SDP. At the primaries, he came third behind Abiola and Ambassador
Baba Gana Kingibe. And in the deals that followed the primaries he lost the vice
presidential slot to Kingibe. Nevertheless, the events that would carve a space
for the Atiku phenomenon in the Nigerian political sphere had already begun. The
death of Yar’Adua in prison further gave this ascendancy more momentum and
propelled Atiku nearer his dream of getting power.
Just Before
Dusk…
If all Obasanjo wanted from his deputy in his first term was loyalty, he never
lacked it. In the early years of the president’s first tenure both men worked as
a team. Uncharacteristically, Obasanjo gave Atiku more responsibilities than any
President has ever given any vice president in the history of the country. The
vice president did not also give his principal any cause for concern. Atiku was
the chairman of the National Council on Privatisation as well as chairman of the
National Economic Council, two very powerful government bodies that saw to
government’s twin prime economic policies of privatisation and the formulation
of fiscal policies. In the political arena Obasanjo also deferred to Abubakar. A
source said the president allowed the vice president to make very critical
inputs to the selection of the men and women with whom they ran government
during the first tenure. Prominent PDM members like Chief Sunday Afolabi, Yomi
Edu, Dapo Sarumi, Dubem Onyia, Professor Ango Abdulahi and others got
ministerial appointments. According to sources, when Chief Solomon Lar was to be
removed as PDP chairman it was to the vice president that the president turned
for a replacement. When the president turned against Chief Barnabas Gemade and
sought to remove him, the vice president was one of the select men who drew the
list of ten men from which Obasanjo chose Chief Audu Ogbeh. Although the two had
occasional differences it was neither too big nor too serious for it to turn
into a major quarrel. Neither could some of the president’s aides who had it in
for Atiku get between the two men.
Sources said the two men had a unique way of settling there disputes. Both,
according to a source, would walk into either’s bedroom together and iron thorny
issues.
As the Night
Beckoned…
Depending on which side is doing the talking several reasons have been adduced
for the collapse of the amity that once existed between Atiku and Obasanjo. But
what is clear is that the present problems are the outworking of the deep
mistrust that seeped into their once friendly relations.
The problem started in the run up to the 2003 presidential elections. Obasanjo
who came into politics as a political orphan nurtured and directed by a motley
of guardians was ready to listen when his aides began telling to build a
personal political base. They kept pushing him to ditch his adopted family and
start his own. One of the people that made him ‘see the light’ was Chief Tony
Anenih. Anenih, it is believed told Obasanjo that he needed to have a political
base made up of his followers. Obasanjo bought the idea and towards the tail end
of his presidency, began to make moves to consolidate his hold on power.
But it was a tough task since nearly all the important positions in the party
were occupied by Atiku loyalists. The Atiku camp which by then had begun to
distrust the presidency also began to dig in. In 2002, some politicians and
pressure groups began to campaign that President Obasanjo should not go for a
second term rather they advised that he should, like former South African
President, Nelson Mandela, quit after his first term. Obasanjo, who had his eyes
on a second term did not take kindly to the campaign. Indeed, in the presidency
the thinking was that Atiku’s aides were behind those calling for the Mandela
option. But the first outward sign that all was not well between the president
and his deputy came to the fore when Obasanjo flagged off his 2003 presidential
campaign with the help of Anenih. The president and his campaign team kept quiet
on who his running mate would be. Unlike what obtained when Obasanjo campaigned
in the 1999 elections, Atiku’s picture was not placed on campaign posters. Atiku
read the snub as a slight and an attempt to deny him the vice presidential slot.
According to those in Atiku’s camp that was when he set off the series of moves
that nearly truncated Obasanjo’s ambition for a second term. When it became
clear that Obasanjo may ditch him for another candidate Atiku began to
fraternize with those he considered to be the opposition.
Backing Atiku was the huge war chest he commands and more importantly the
network of governors, political associates and footsoldiers at the grassroots
level. Had he hurled himself headlong against this opposition, Obasanjo would
have been humiliated at the PDP presidential primaries. Anenih who knew this too
well began to make moves to either dismantle or counter the Atiku machine. But
it was a difficult process. Anenih’s task was not also helped by the decision of
some governors to oppose Obasanjo’s bid at the last minute. Led by Delta State
governor, James Ibori, who at a point allegedly boasted that he would lead the
‘opposition army’ against Obasanjo if Atiku declines to lead. The governors
mounted pressure on Atiku to contest or they would back the candidature of
former vice president, Alex Ekwueme against Obasanjo. It was a tough moment for
Atiku who was torn between staying faithful to a boss who he wasn’t sure was
going to drop him and going for it alone.
While he pondered this, Atiku, THISDAY, checks revealed was also meeting with
three other super-power brokers, former military heads of state, Babangida and
General Abubakar Abdusalami and Major General Aliyu Gusau (Rtd.). During these
meetings the group which styled itself the G-4 deliberated on Obasanjo’s
ambition for a second term, his chances and vulnerability. Aside from their
common interest in power what further bonded them was a common hatred for Anenih.
It was this hatred that made Atiku to let down his guards and work with IBB whom
he knew wanted the presidency as badly as he wanted. Outside politics, Atiku
also had grouse with IBB. It was under IBB that Atiku’s time in the Customs came
to an abrupt end. Atiku was one of the senior Customs officer purged by the IBB
regime. At various times the G-4 met with the president and tabled demands, one
of which was the removal of Anenih as the minister for works. Obasanjo who had
by then grown very close to Anenih and who also placed much stock on Anenih’s
contribution acceded to their demands and removed Anenih. He nevertheless kept
Anenih close by as the national co-ordinator of his campaign team. The period
was a particularly trying one for Obasanjo. More trying than the impeachment he
survived in 2002 - the president is also said to believe that the impeachment
move though spearheaded by the House of Representatives Speaker, Ghali Naaba,
was the handiwork of his deputy.
The Stench of
Treachery…
It is also this period that Obasanjo is believed to have called Atiku to
confront him with details of his alleged disloyalty and to ask him to swear by
the Quran. THISDAY checks revealed that Atiku may have unwittingly played into
the hands of IBB the originator of G-4 who wanted Atiku moved out of the way of
his presidential ambition.
According to a source, just before the 2003 elections IBB went to Obasanjo and
told him that Atiku was disloyal. Rather than being taken aback the president
reportedly vouched for his deputy. But Babangida insisted he was right and left
promising to return someday with proofs. The proof was the G4 meetings which
Atiku was convinced to start attending and which Obasanjo was made to know
about. As the PDP primaries approached Obasanjo’s position looked rather
vulnerable as the governors had to be begged and cajoled to support his
candidature at the primary. But what presidency sources say the president
considers to be a mortal blow was the interview Atiku granted BBC Hausa Service
on the eve of the primary.
In the interview, the vice president said he had three options before him at the
Convention the following morning. He said he could run on his own or run with
Obasanjo’s challenger, Ekwueme or run with Obasanjo. When he was asked what his
choice would be the next morning he said he didn’t know. That interview
lacerated Obasanjo’s ego. Sources say it was a blow, which the president is yet
to recover from. According to a governor, who accompanied the president on a
recent trip abroad the president has not been able to live down the fact that
his vice humiliated him, so publicly, during this period. “He (Obasanjo) said to
us, ‘You people you just talk about me being hard. Who among you can stand his
deputy coming to tell him that, ‘See, I have the governors behind me, I have the
party, this is what I want?’”.
Things Fall
Apart…
After Obasanjo’s triumph at the polls in 2003 he began to whittle Atiku’s
powers. With every move it became clearer that Obasanjo had only lulled Atiku
into a false sense of security. He removed Atiku as chairman of the National
Council on Privatisation as well as chairman of the National Economic Council.
Not only were Atiku’s men not accommodated in the new scheme of affairs his
efforts to plant them in good positions were frustrated. At the beginning of the
new democratic experiment Atiku’s choice for Speaker of the House of
Representatives was defeated. The governors who led the post-PDP primary
rebellion, many of whom are his supporters, have also faced the wrath of the
President. The president also took over such mundane tasks as the hiring and
firing of Atiku’s personal staff. Not even, Adinoyi Onukaba Ojo, one of Atiku’s
aides and Obasanjo’s once time protégé, escaped the sack frenzy.
The gulf created between the two men by the events of 2003 has not been bridged
by any of the peace efforts by third parties. In January one of such peace
meetings held in the presidency. A mortified Atiku who called the meeting
apologized for his conduct during the 2003 presidential primaries. Sources at
the meeting said Atiku apologized and reminded the president that but for the
infractions of the 2003 election period he had been a very loyal deputy. “The
Vice President listed a number of occasions, incidents and issues (during) which
he had opportunities to stab the president in the back but he acted as the
honest and loyal lieutenant,” a source at the meeting said. The source also said
that the aborted Al Mustapha coup was only possible because of the loyalty the
VP has to Obasanjo.
One reason why it is difficult to make peace between the two men, according to
sources, is because of the divisive roles being played by hawks in both the
president and vice president’s camps. The hawks in the President’s kitchen
cabinet have the president’s ears and are forever spoiling for a fight with
Atiku. What has largely kept them at bay is believed to be the formidable
firepower Atiku may deploy if push gets to shove. Nevertheless, they have been
in the vanguard of those asking the president to move against his deputy and put
him in his place. The Atiku camp is not also lacking in hawks. When Obasanjo
asked Atiku to stop his supporters from campaigning for his 2007 ambition, Atiku
acquiesced. It was a decision that was not well liked among Atiku’s supporters,
especially the hawks. As one of the members of the group pointed out, “if
Obasanjo was unable to stop those campaigning for the extension of his term why
does he expect Turaki to control those campaigning for him.”
A Man and his
ambition…
Despite the wishes of hawks on both sides the two men have managed to keep the
peace until the Atiku’s THISDAY August 22, interview which the President replied
to during his presidential chat. Analysts have contended that the vice
president’s presidential ambition, which Obasanjo seems to be ill-disposed to
may have induced the boldness with which Atiku spoke during the interview.
In the THISDAY interview the Vice President spoke at length about his experience
as Obasanjo’s deputy. Although he kept his frustrations to himself he was
nevertheless forthright. On Obasanjo’s alleged ambition for a tenure extension,
the vice president said, “I have discussed with with Mr. President he has sworn
to me on one to one that he is not going to stay beyond 2007.”
For the first time ever the vice president also discussed the elongation of
tenure issue in public. “The President has never told me he wants to continue
and I don't believe he will. Secondly, the issue that we are doing well, I think
continuation does not lie with individuals, continuation lies with the
institutions. When Reagan (Ronald) was getting to the end of his tenure, he
didn't want to go even when he was almost senile. He didn't want to go, but the
institution is so entrenched in the United States that you dare not say you want
to remain. When Margaret Thatcher (former British Prime Minister) was voted out
of power she was shedding tears when she was leaving 10 Downing Street. But
because the institutions were so entrenched she had to go.
“I think what is important here for Nigerians to make sure that those democratic
institutions that have been planted are so entrenched and they support those
institutions to make sure that no individual comes and says he is sitting tight
and continues to govern this country for God knows when. I think this is how I
will approach this issue,” he said.
The president’s reply, when it came during the media chat, was acerbic. “I read
the interview by the Vice President in THISDAY of August 22 and a couple of
other statements he has made. I think they contain a lot of misrepresentation,
misinformation and misrepresentation. He said I swore to him, I did not swear. I
did not swear to him. For what? The only swearing I made was the public oath I
made, the oath to respect and defend Nigeria’s constitution and doing all manner
of good to all manner of men and women. But there is nobody who can say that I
have told him that I am staying. I don’t need to swear on that. I have sworn to
defend the constitution. For what reason do I swear that I am not staying? To do
what?
“If I have given my word you either believe it or not but people who know me
know that I don’t talk frivolously. When there was a case of doubtful loyalty on
the part of the Vice President, I took the Bible and the Koran and said between
the two of us, I want you to swear to an oath of loyalty…but he refused to swear
because there were proven cases of disloyalty on his part…it was bad enough.”
What Future?
With the commencement of moves by some elders to intervene things have quietened
down a bit, but analysts have argued that given Obasanjo’s antecedents it may be
the peace of a graveyard. Obasanjo has been known to lull his opponent into
sleep in the past before striking. But would Obasanjo dare an opponent that is
as formidable as Atiku? Knowing that Atiku is neither an Ogbeh nor an Okadigbo
analysts have contended that a full-fledged Obasanjo-Atiku clash would be
politically and socially suicidal for both the two personalities and the nation.
Two options that the presidency is likely to consider, giving its antecedents,
if the present problem snowballs into a full crisis is either to pressurize
Atiku to reisgn or to engineer his impeachment. However, neither option
possesses much utility. The popular view is that Atiku, given his fighting
spirit and tenacity is not likely to resign. And as for the impeachment option,
Atiku enjoys wide support in the National Assembly, which the presidency would
have to rely upon. For one, analysts contend, the presidency would have to
commit considerable energy and resources to fight Atiku and even then there is
no guarantee of success. What is certain, they say, is that the polity would
become heated and the gains of democracy, such as the privation process and
foreign investment inflow would suffer.
But what does the future hold for Atiku as a politician, particularly for his
presidential ambition? For long, the thinking was that opposition to an Atiku
candidature come 2007 would come from Babangida. But the Atiku camp is said to
be beginning to think that the enemy may be much nearer home given increased
speculation that the president is interested in the elongation of his tenure.
Besides the issue of treachery and disloyalty, the president is said not to be
well disposed to an Atiku presidency because he does not want a successor that
would turn against him when he is out of office.
A more interesting reason, is the one that started making the rounds recently:
some of the president’s advisers are said to be pushing for the Chinese model in
which Obasanjo would transmute into party leader while an appointee would be the
head of government. But projections for such a plan is dealt an easy blow by
Obasanjo’s story. With the instrument of state at his disposal, Obasanjo has
successfully turned the table against those who brought him into power. What
guarantee is there, watchers ask, that the person whom Obasanjo will select
would not give the president the ‘Obasanjo’ treatment when he is out of power?
While answers to these and many of the questions thrown up by the Obasanjo-Atiku
imbroglio may be a matter of conjecture, what is not is the fact that Atiku
remains a very formidable factor in the twists and turns that would determine
who takes over from Obasanjo.
