Originally posted 2008
Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and CLASS magazine and The Black Business Journal
A disagreement between the Nigerian government and the opposition has raised a critical question of who speaks for President Umaru Yar’Adua between his Special Adviser on Communication and his Minister of Justice and Attorney-General (AGF).
The country’s most vocal opposition Action Congress (AC) raised the question on Tuesday, following the controversy generated by a statement saying the Yar’Adua administration will not probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo, over alleged corrupt practices during his eight-year tenure, which ended 29 May 2007. While the President’s Special Adviser on Communications (Spokesman), Olusegun Adeniyi, had said in a newspaper interview last week that the administration will not probe Obasanjo, widely seen as a benefactor of President Yar’Adua, the Minister, Michael Aondoakaa, denied any such decision had been taken by the government.
The Minister’s denial, which came on Monday after local newspapers ran the story on the opposition parties’ reaction to the Obasanjono-probe story, was made when he appeared before a committee of the House of Representatives (Parliament).
On Tuesday, Jan 7, 2008, AC latched on to the denial, saying it was an indication of the ”depth of the confusion in the Yar’Adua administration. There is no doubt that this government is on autopilot, with no one in charge!” AC said in a statement issued in Abuja by its Spokesman, Lai Mohammed.
AC, in the statement, quoted from the interview earlier granted by Adeniyi, where he said any probe of the former President ”is clearly out of the question”.
The opposition party said the Minister’s denial had raised a ” serious question of who speaks for the President, and whether the public should rely only on statements made by the President.
Observers said the last had yet to be heard on the controversy, as well as on whether or not former President Obasanjo would be probedby his successor. Several individuals and groups, including the umbrella Conference of Nigerian (opposition) Political Parties(CNPP), have petitioned the anti-corruption agencies on the need to investigate the former President.
The fight against corruption was a major plank of the Obasanjo administration, but his critics charged that he was an embodiment of corruption while in office (1999-2007). Obasanjo has yet to weigh in on the controversy. Lagos – 08/01/2008/Panapress
