As a man who was well brought up by his parents and by extension
relations, a former Governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu has said
that he regretted joining politics owing to how his businesses were set
back by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, when the later served as President,
Federal Republic of Nigeria, because he told Obasanjo the bold truth.
Kalu who was fielding reports to his Media Team across the world, said that the
worst side of it was that Obasanjo on seeing that he was bent on
telling him the truth as a practicing Christian, used every means
illegal to criminalise him.
The business mogul said this in a statement issued by his media
office in Abuja and signed by Mrs. Rubby Obinna. Kalu said that Obasanjo
decided to sully his reputable image before and after he served as
governor, because he spoke the bold truth to Obasanjo in a letter he
officially sent to Obasanjo dated 25thSeptember 2005.
Kalu said in the letter that he forwarded to Obasanjo that four years
had passed since Obasanjo was vomiting fire and brimstone in the
crusade against corruption and there was no success. He told Obasanjo
that the war was make-believe, because Obasanjo instituted the crusade
for vendetta. The former governor intimated Obasanjo that both the
Nigerian populace and the media were aghast and fade up with the way
Obasanjo was going about the fight against corruption.
The letter buttressed how Kalu saw the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) under Obasanjo: Its operations were draconian and
commando-like. Kalu also frowned at the operations of the Independent
Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), saying that both the so-called
anti-corruption agencies under Obasanjo negated the Constitution and all
that democracy stood for.
Kalu questioned Obasanjo why he should institute the two bodies
whereas there were bodies whose operations were to look into the cases
which the two bodies were formed for. Kalu indicted Obasanjo that while
the Obasanjo presidency was making noise in the media of fighting
corruption, the whole federal government establishments were allegedly
characterized by corrupt practices.
Under Obasanjo, Kalu said that corrupt practices multiplied on daily
basis. He told Obasanjo that under his watch, the national budget was
doctored in connivance with some national assembly members and Obasanjo
said that he was fighting corruption.
He told Obasanjo of how his aides and ministers looted the country
dry and saved the money abroad to the chagrin of the international
community. Kalu said that he reminded Obasanjo that while he was busy on
the newspapers fighting corruption, he did not do anything to quench
the looting spree which he said included former ministers that served
under Obasanjo.
Kalu told Obasanjo of how he was not after fighting his aides and
ministers to stop looting the country, but was using the EFCC and ICPC
to chase anybody who told him the truth. He in this line referred to
Obasanjo as an extremist-hypocrite who re-awarded the National Stadium
contract that was won by a Chinese firm, which was designed to have a
Five Star hotel, to a foreign company in Nigeria, and instead of the
Five Star hotel built, the contract was awarded five times the price of
what the Chinese firm submitted.
The former governor referred to Obasanjo’s anti-corruption fight as a
turnabout. He questioned Obasanjo to tell the world why the Bureau for
Public Enterprises (BPE) was comatosed and in whose hand was the
commissions that accrued from the sale of Ajaokuta Steel Company and
Delta Steel Rolling Mill, Alaja, were.
He asked Obasanjo to defend those businesses as transparent. Kalu
said that Obasanjo refused to probe the Ministry of Works even when he
had called on his attention that the ministry was a mess. He added that
in August of 2005 while on one of his public presentations on the Voice
of America (VOA), he challenged Obasanjo to tell the world why he was
lackadaisical and nonchallent towards making his assets public.
Kalu told Obasanjo that no matter Obasanjo’s denial of owning the
Bell University and Bell Secondary while serving as president, he had
concrete evidence that those schools were linked to Obasanjo.
One salient area that Kalu reminded Obasanjo was the speed with which
Otta Farm owned by the later was springing up, whereas as at 1998,
Obasanjo wept before Kalu to assist him because he had only N20, 000 as
all his savings; a plea that Kalu did not churlish but rehabilitated
Obasanjo both in material and otherwise when Obasanjo came out of
prison.
Kalu said that he asked Obasanjo to tell the world why he occupied
the Petroleum Resources since 1999 and refused to appoint a person to
mann the ministerial position. He told Obasanjo that he was busy saying
that he was fighting corruption when the major deals at the oil sector
were manned by Obasanjo’s agents.
At the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation (NNPC), Kalu said that
he asked Obasanjo what efforts he had put in place to check the
leakages in that sector with particular reference to crude oil sales and
accruing commissions. Kalu told Obasanjo that the economy collapsed
under his presidency, but regretted that Obasanjo was fighting him and
calling him a thief with such agents like EFCC and ICPC which Obasanjo
formed purposefully to witch-hunt dissenters like him, whereas as at
1998 Kalu contributed N500m for the formation of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), and gave approximately $1m to Obasanjo election bid.
Rubby Obinna (Mrs),
Orji Uzor Kalu Media Centre, Abuja.
August 17 2015.
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