Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, has descended heavily on former President Olusegun Obasanjo following his criticism of Tinubu’s imposition of emergency rule in Rivers State.
Obasanjo had taken a swipe at the President’s action during the 60th birthday celebration of former Governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha Monday, and noted that such acts had seen the erosion of democracy in Africa.
“Democracy in Africa has failed because it’s not African, it didn’t have our culture and way of lives. You will say, ‘go to court’ when you know that you can’t get justice. Democracy is dying in Africa and to save it, it should be made in the context of Africa,” Obasanjo had said.
But in a scathing attack on the elder statesman in a post on X on Thursday, Olusegun described the former President as the “grandfather of hypocrisy” who lacks the moral right to criticize Tinubu’s decisions.
In the post, the presidential aide accused OBJ of “attempting to rewrite history and whitewash his own controversial democratic record while condemning Tinubu’s actions.”
“Coming to Obasanjo’s remarks at the Ihedioha Colloquium, it is obvious that OBJ is trying every trick possible to whitewash his bad democratic records by trying to exonerate himself from blame for how Nigeria’s democracy has fared,” Olusegun wrote in the post shared on his handle @DOlusegun.
“It is shocking to many who were adults during the Obasanjo 1999-2007 era to hear OBJ preaching that “Democracy is not about power grabbing illegally and telling victims to go to court.” He even said democracy is dying in Nigeria.
“This is the same OBJ that turned himself into a kingmaker and a demigod in his second term in office between 2003-2004. Anybody who disagreed with him became prey.
“This is an OBJ who worked with his then VP, Atiku Abubakar to steal opposition states for PDP thanks to their job man, Prof. Maurice Iwu who was INEC Chairman. OBJ made sure incumbent governors of Ekiti, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, and Oyo states who all belonged to AD were rigged out using federal might. Only Lagos survived the rigging onslaught.
“Atiku himself later willingly confessed publicly how they spared only Lagos governed by Bola Tinubu in the South West that was formerly controlled by AD as of 1999.
“This is the same OBJ under whose democratic watch, a sitting governor of Anambra State was forced to sign a resignation letter at gunpoint (not by hoodlums but by an AIG) and thereafter abducted. If not for fate and smartness of Ngige, the democratic coup would have succeeded with the possible termination of the life of Ngige.
“This is the same OBJ that changed Senate Presidents at will and introduced a never-seen-before level of cash inducement of NASS members.
“This is the same OBJ that went on an impeachment spree from 2005 to 2006 masterminding the impeachment of Governors of the following states:
Bayelsa (DSP)
Ekiti (Fayose)
Plateau (Dariye)
Oyo (Ladoja)
Anambra (Obi)
“He attempted to impeach Boni Haruna of Adamawa too. All those kangaroo impeachments were set aside by the courts except Bayelsa because they did not follow due process – from Anambra where the lawmakers went to a hotel in another state to carry out impeachment to Oyo where Oyo NURTW Chairman acted as Speaker to impeach Rashidi Ladoja.
“It is this same OBJ that unilaterally declared the seat of his then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar vacant over his corruption indictment by a panel of inquiry.
“Atiku who has now become a serial presidential candidate slept in the courts towards the 2007 general election season. OBJ at a time declared unnecessary national public holidays just to prevent the courts from sitting to rule on Atiku’s court challenge.
“This is also the same OBJ who desperately tried to go for a third term through a deceitful constitutional amendment targeted principally at tenure elongation.
“As that third-term bid failed, he tried to install his handpicked successors by conducting the worst presidential election in Nigeria’s history – an election that even the beneficiary of the election publicly admitted was fundamentally flawed.
“OBJ who is criticizing President Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspending the Governor and the assembly has forgotten that in May 2004 he declared a state of emergency in Plateau State and suspended both Gov. Joshua Dariye and the state assembly and appointed Gen. Chris Ali (Rtd) as Sole Administrator. He also did the same thing in Ekiti State.
“In Obasanjo’s case, his reason for suspending Dariye and the Plateau legislature is because Gov. Dariye failed to act to end a cycle of violence between Plateau State’s Muslim and Christian communities.
“He didn’t accuse the Plateau assembly of anything, yet he suspended them. Ironically OBJ is criticising Tinubu for suspending Gov. Fubara and Rivers House of Assembly members who are the direct actors that created the emergency in Rivers State.
“Obasanjo is simply the grandfather of hypocrisy in Nigeria at the moment. This is the same OBJ that turned himself into a kingmaker and a demigod in his second term in office.”
