Obasanjo revisits fallout with Atiku, raises new questions over 2003 politics

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has reopened one of Nigeria’s most contentious political chapters, revealing that his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, spearheaded an impeachment plot against him during his first term in office and provided N5 million to facilitate the move in what he described as an attempt to seize power before the expiration of his constitutional tenure.

The explosive revelations are contained in a strongly worded letter written by Obasanjo to former Ogun State Governor Olusegun Osoba, in response to the latter’s article titled “How Obasanjo Deceived Us in 2003.”

In the letter, the former president rejected claims that he misled leaders of the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) during the political negotiations that preceded the 2003 general elections.

Instead, Obasanjo turned the spotlight on his former vice president, accusing Atiku of orchestrating political manoeuvres aimed at removing him from office through impeachment.

According to Obasanjo, the impeachment campaign did not originate in the National Assembly but was allegedly conceived from within the Presidency after Atiku concluded that he should serve only one four-year term.

He claimed that while he was away from the Presidential Villa on a Friday, Atiku invited the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’Abba, to his office and encouraged him to commence impeachment proceedings.

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Obasanjo further revealed that Atiku provided N5 million to support the impeachment effort.

According to the former president, the alleged meeting and financial transaction were documented and brought to his attention by his then Chief of Staff, whom he described as a professional intelligence officer.

Despite the alleged moves, Obasanjo said he remained unperturbed because he believed he had committed no impeachable offence.

He stated that the objective of the campaign was to enable his deputy to assume the presidency before the completion of his tenure.

Obasanjo also revealed that former President Shehu Shagari later became aware of the impeachment efforts and offered to intervene after discussing the matter with him.

According to the former president, he consented to Shagari’s intervention, maintaining that he had no reason to fear the impeachment process because he had not violated the Constitution.

The former president further alleged that after the impeachment effort failed, Atiku adopted what he described as a “two-track approach” to actualising his presidential ambition.

According to Obasanjo, the first strategy allegedly involved aligning with former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, with the understanding that power would eventually shift to Atiku during Ekwueme’s administration.

The second strategy, he revealed, was to persuade the six Alliance for Democracy governors in the South-West to avoid direct political confrontation during the 2003 elections, thereby positioning themselves to support Atiku’s presidential ambition in 2007.

Obasanjo also stated that political stakeholders were encouraged to bypass him as President and instead negotiate directly with his deputy on matters of political interest.

The latest revelations revive long-standing political tensions between Obasanjo and Atiku, whose relationship deteriorated sharply during their second term in office, culminating in a bitter power struggle that shaped Nigeria’s political landscape ahead of the 2007 general elections.