Open Letter To Former President, Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo

Chief Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo,
Obasanjo Presidential Library,
Abeokuta,
Ogun State.

Your Excellency,

I’m Olayiwola Rasheed Emmanuel, an Engineer cum Journalist, a Poet and Public Servant, and a Citizen of Nigeria. My father; Olayiwola Hamzat Habeeblah, is an ecclesiastic, and was years ago the Imam of a Mosque in my community. He is presently the Chief Imam of Agege LGA, Lagos State. That is the highest he attained. My mother, was a supervisor at Emzor Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Company before she retired. She was an ecclesiastic before she died in 2015.

I chose to introduce myself to you upfront so you know I have no pedigree to match yours, and because I know your supporters and attack dogs will come after me, and ask questions about my pedigree. They will ask: “who is his father….who is he to dare write a letter to a former Head of State and President..”? Now you know. And hopefully, they know too!

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The only pedigree that I stand on to write you today sir, is my citizenship of Nigeria, a privilege and right I share and enjoy with you. The Constitution of Nigeria, gave us (you and I and others) the right to free speech. You have constantly and frequently exercised that right in expressing speeches to our fellow citizens who happened by good fortunes to be former and present leaders of the country. You penned and published falsified lamentations and unadulterated mischief that “All is not well with the electoral processes of the just concluded Presidential Polls”. I’m writing you this letter in the exercise of the same right- free speech.

In your Press Release to President Muhammadu Buhari, you raised crucial issues regards the danger and disaster that will look Nigeria due to the electoral processes of declaring the collated results of the just concluded Presidential Polls. Allegedly stating that the INEC officials have been paid with blood money to compromised the collating of results.

With due humility sir, I will put it straight to you that we know how to respect elders but if an elder descends to the arena of unadulterated mischief, hypocrisy and ignorance of any kind, we are duty bound to call such an elder out, especially when the elder is playing dangerous games.

Ab-initio, to the character and naked hypocrisy of your personal self sir. Sadly, if history was taught in Nigeria especially of our leaders, past and present, especially to the youth, a leader like you would not have the temerity to continue to flaunt your hypocrisy and mischief before Nigerians.

Sir, have you forgotten so soon that you are a man who was pulled out from prison before the 1999 presidential election on our return to civilian rule after decades of military dictatorship, rehabilitated and essentially coronated President of Nigeria?

Have you forgotten that you were handed over Nigeria on a platter to rebuild? Not only did you fail to lay a new foundation for the nation and an enduring democratic culture, you also refused to drop your military toga, mentality and rank for real but instead laid a foundation for democratic bringadage, anomie and impunity.

Sir, have you forgotten that you such a man who saw himself as a ‘Mr. Know All’ and a supreme and infallible leader who must call all the shots including deciding who became local government chairman, house of assembly and national assembly member, party chairman, Governor and everything in-between and who challenging your actions could be at grave mortal risk? Did you forget you were a civilian president but you essentially ruled by ‘decrees’?

Did you forgot that under your watch, the National Assembly was merely there for decoration? Whenever you could not intimidate, threaten or blackmail them into doing your bidding, you dropped ‘banana peels’ or ‘ghana-must-goed’ them into submission. Until they grew balls to say no to your third (3rd) term ambition.

For fact-checking, your story was told by Chief Audu Ogbe himself, of how he was throw out as PDP National Chairman. When you showed up at his house one night unannounced and he saw what was placed before him, he knew the choices where stark. That was what your style of democracy is.

Sir, have you forgotten how you fled into Edo State during the 2007 Gubernatorial General Elections and coerced the then INEC to declare Professor Oserheimen Osunbor (then PDP) Governor of Edo State against Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (then ACN) who actually won the election?

Have you also forgotten that it was under your watch as the President that democratically elected Governors were abducted in the booth of vehicles, randomly impeached and you could withdraw the security of any Governor at will from Abuja?

Ain’t you the Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who as your own way of conflict resolution, as the President on November 20, 1999, ordered the Nigerian military to Odi in Bayelsa State which led to what is now infamously called the ‘Odi massacre’?

Sir, have you forgotten so quick that we were all witnesses to these and more? Your records in election conduct was so abysmal that after the 2007 General election, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua of blessed memory (Allah rest his soul) had to publicly confess that “… the processes that brought us to power was flawed …”. What greater indictment than that?

But today, you are the same being masquerading yourself as a professor of democracy, champion for the cause of Nigerian masses and master letter writer who thinks you have anything to teach President Muhammadu Buhari who himself has undoubtedly proven to be a true and self confessed “converted democrat”.

The last letter you wrote could not just be ignored because it is mischief and hypocrisy taken to a dangerous level which has the potential to stoke a fire where there is none and to ignite a conflagration that could consume everyone.

Incidentally, contrary to what you wrote in your letter, it is not the INEC chairman who will (not may) “sneak out of the country”. It is you, Chief Olusegun Aremu Okikiola Obasanjo, that has the wherewithal to first flee the country, if the “looming danger and disaster” which you are conjuring in your mind and stoking happens. God forbid.

With every due respect sir, you are a busy body and I am not sure you understood and still understands the meaning of the ‘I’ in INEC. Of course. Because INEC was never ‘I’ndependent under your watch. You had INEC in the pockets of your babaringa all through your tenure.

Little wonder you think or expects President Muhammadu Buhari to issue orders to the INEC for the current INEC to do any one thing or the other in a process that is progressing satisfactorily well and in “substantial compliance” with the electoral act simply because your preferred candidate is losing the election.

Sir, if you were so smart and sincere, why did you not reform INEC and the electoral Act under your tenure like President Muhammadu Buhari has verifiably done? Which election that you conduct passed the “credibility and transparency test” that you are preaching today?

If the current election where a major party presidential candidate, a sitting President, party national chairmen etc are losing elections in their states is as flawed as you of all people wants the world to believe, then we need to retroactively call you to account for the sham elections conducted under your watch.

Furthering, at this point, it must be stated without prevarication that, so far, the election processes have been going well and in line with the electoral act, from the pre-party primaries, party primaries to the actual voting on Saturday. BVAS was deployed and it worked satisfactorily in most places. Where it did not or where there were incidence of violence, INEC has dealt with that in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Collation has been done from PUs to Wards to LGAs and to States in most cases. We are at the final Collation stage. The noise by people of your likes is selfish, simply because you and others of your likes couldn’t see the broader and clearer picture unlike many ordinary Nigerians and it does not favour you. So, you and your likes are teaming up against INEC and indeed the nation by trying to conscript those ordinary Nigerians into your selfish battle. God and us will not allow you and your likes to succeed.

However, so much noise has been made about electronic transmission of results and IReV. Many forget that while the Electoral Act permits INEC to deploy electronic means in election management, it is INEC’s discretion in exercise of its independence to deploy what it wants in any manner it wants.

While INEC stated clearly that results would be scanned and uploaded on the IReV, it never said that it would replace getting the physical results collated State by State and tabulating them to get a winner. That does not also stop the upload and update of the results. So, what exactly is the issue sir, if not mischief?

The parties by the amended Electoral Act have the space of seven (7) days to raise any complaint and ask INEC for a review. More importantly, there is a provision for the Election Petitions Tribunal and litigation up to the Supreme Court in the case of Presidential election. That is also part of the electoral process. Sir, are you not aware of this?

Interestingly, none of those party agents led by Dino Melaye has presented one single result of their own to counter any of the results so far declared at the ICC. If one is alleging a disparity even as the result is not on the IReV yet, it supposes that one has a result sheet which states otherwise. Why has none of them presented that? Why didn’t you ask from them sir? Why didn’t you educate them as regards this? Baba think!!

Conclusively, I am using this medium to humbly appeal to Nigerians on a multi-partisan basis to shine our eyes and identify those who truly do not mean well for us, even as they masquerade as speaking for us. Also, I am thanking you for taking your time to read my letter. I hope my thoughts meet you well. Nigerians are looking up to you to join other leaders to renewed the hope, growth, development, progress, unity and peaceful coexistence of our country. They are asking you to look at General Yakub Gowon, and make him your role model. My sincere respect and regards to you sir.

God Bless Nigeria!

Olayiwola Rasheed Emmanuel,
Agege, Lagos, Nigeria.
Tuesday, February 28, 2023.