What Obasanjo has to Say about Atiku In His Book

Former president Olusegun Obasanjo in his
autobiography “My Watch” has taken a swipe
at his former deputy, Atiku Abubakar, former
Senate president, Ken Nnamani, ex-Lagos
state governor, Bola Tinubu and former
minister of the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, defining most
of them as liars.
The former president in the book gave a vivid
account of how the no-love-lost relationship
between him and Atiku began right from the
inception of their government.
The book which is divided into three volumes
with 58 chapters and a total of 1,522 pages;
is presented like Obasanjo’s responses to all
who have criticized him in the past as well
as those he believed wronged him politically.
Read the extract on Atiku below:
“From the day I nominated Atiku to be my vice,
he set his mind not for any good, benefit or
service of the country, but on furiously planning
to upstage, supplant or remove me at all cost
and to take my place.

“That was what I brought him for, but he was
impatient and over-ambitious. He was not ready
to learn and to wait. His marabout, who
predicted that despite being elected as
governor, he would not be sworn in as a
governor, which happened, also assured him
that he would take over from me in a matter of
months rather than years.
“All his plans, appointments of people and his
actions were towards the actualisation of his
marabout’s prediction. Once I realised his
intention and programme, I watched him like
a hawk without giving any indication of what
I knew and letting down my guard. I could
not succumb to the distraction, diversion and
malevolence of an ambitious but unwise
deputy.
“The work in hand was more important than
a confrontational relationship with my deputy,
a man over whom I knew I had far more
experience and outreach in all matters. To
alert him of what I knew he was up to, would
only lead to lying, denial, more mischievous
plans and more duplicity on his part.
“He was better managed that way. What was
important was not allowing myself to be
surprised or outmanoeuvred by him. I must
always seize the initiative and know what
was going on if not in his mind, but at least
in his camp. That I did very effectively.
“Sometime in the fourth quarter of 2004, an
associate of Atiku came to my residence at
the Aso Villa from Atiku’s official residence.
He felt uncomfortable and I tried to make him
feel at ease. Then, he settled to tell me the
story of what had just transpires Atiku’s
residence. I listened with rapt attention.


“What he needed was foreign endorsement and
for that he had employed two lobby groups in
the US and one in the UK. And finally, the
money for the elections was in his purse.
“When the man finished, I thanked him
without passing any comment. The man was
surprised at my reaction and asked, ‘You
have nothing to say to these?’ I said that I
had nothing to say and I immediately called
my ADC, Chris Jemitola, to play a game of
squash with me.
“On our way to the squash court with my
ADC, I said, ‘People at times make plans and
leave God out of their plans.’ My casual
remark struck Chris and he said, ‘Sir, that
was a profound statement.’ I said that I
made the statement because of what I had
just heard of Atiku’s plan. I was not
convinced he had put God in his plans.
“Atiku was confident and God was laughing.
Most of Atiku’s ingredients soon started to
fall out of place one by one. The first was
the party, PDP.
“He thought I was powerless and had no clue
about the execution of his plan with his
group; part of his attack on me was for
national chairman of the party to give the
first salvo, then other things would follow as
his grip on the party would be firm and
consolidated.
“That salvo came in the form of a letter to
me from the chairman of the party, Audu
Ogbeh, who had fully defected with (Iyorchia)
Ayu to Atiku.
“The letter, which was not the product of any
issue or matter discussed with or at any
party meeting, came suddenly. When I
received it, I could read the sinister intention
behind it.
“I spent that night writing my reply and I sent
it in the morning. My reply was clear. I
wondered why Atiku and his group did not
realise that with my reply, the battle line was
clear or maybe they thought that the seven
ingredients would remain intact to the end.

“My assistants had moles within the Atiku
group. Anything that they planned would be
reported. That was the case after Ogbeh’s
letter. They decided that Ogbeh should
appear remorseful and come with the
National Working Committee to apologise to
me. It was not from their hearts, but to lure
me to a ‘killing ground’.
“All pieces of information that were reported
were verified because it would not come from
only one informant.
“Timely information is a very important
principle of war and also of politics. In
politics, just as in war, what matters is not
just your plan, but knowledge of your
opponent’s plan. Knowing their plan, I had
the choice of playing along with them or
being firm, I chose the latter.
“I told Ogbeh that my relationship with him
as national chairman and me as national
leader of the party was based on mutual
confidence and trust. But with his letter, my
reply and what I knew of him then, I could no
longer work with him in confidence and trust.
“There were only two choices left for both of
us in our best interest and that of the party
– he, leaves as chairman or I leave as leader
of the party.
“The following Sunday, I called at his house,
which I had done on several occasions in the
past when there was an important party
matter to discuss. This time, I asked him to
give me an undated letter of resignation as
the national chairman.
“I waited, he gave me but it was wrongly
addressed to me rather than to the national
secretary of the party as stipulated in the
party’s constitution.
“Ogbeh reported to his group and it was
decided by them to play on and to wait for
my disgrace whenever I presented a letter of
resignation not addressed to the national
secretary.
“The informants did their job and I, once
again, paid another visit to Ogbeh at his
residence. He entertained me to a meal and
drink, and changed the addressee on his
letter of resignation.”