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Dariye’s many coups against Obasanjo
Governor Joshua Chidi Dariye may have settled down at his duty
post in Jos, Pleateau State, to start work after the six months of state of
emergency imposed on the state by President Olusegun Obasanjo, there is no
doubt that his return journey was laced with agonising experiences. ADESOJI
OYINLOLA chronicles how the governor plotted against efforts to
frustrate his return bid.
The dust over the return of the Governor Joshua
Dariye to his seat in Jos, Plateau State after the expiration of his suspension
in May following the state of emergency declared by President Obasanjo, may
appear to be over, the intrigues employed to beat the force of the president to
make sure he did not return as governor will linger in the memories of the
major actors for a long time. If
Dariye had believed that the true cause of his suspension was the spate of
ethno-religious crisis in his state, the events that continued to unfold and
distance him from realising his dream of returning to office became
instructive.
President Obasanjo, or the federal government as the
case may be had more than ever, focused on him and made sure that all the
information that filtered to the public were about how he allegedly had
numerous foreign accounts and engaged in money laundering.
With the date of expiration of the state of emergency
drawing close, it became obvious that there was a plot to prevent him from
returning to office, and all actions from Aso Rock pointed to that. As a part of the final plot to deal a devastating blow on the
governor to prevent him from coming into office, reliable sources said,
security operatives were already detailed to effect his arrest on arrival in
Nigeria. But in a manner
reminiscent of a scene in a Hollywood flick, the governor beat the security network and made his way to
Jos. Dariye’s appearance in
Jos, Plateau State, on November 18, 2004, therefore caught Aso Rock unawares
leaving it to wonder how he managed to escape the eagle eys of th security
operatives waiting to arrest him for questioning over allegations bordering on
some financial crimes.
While the security operatives waited endlessly in
London and Nigeria, Governor Dariye who on the advice of prominent Plateau
indigenes refused the invitation by President Obasanjo to return to Nigeria
before the expiration of the emergency rule, cleverly left London to France by
train through the Britain- France tunnel. The accountant turned politician was
already in France while London
security operatives kept vigil at the airports.
And in Lagos, his aides had also sold a dummy to his
political foes that he was to fly straight to Abuja. But not only did he arrive
safely in Lagos, he walked through the airport unnoticed as it was not yet time
for his return.
One thing that appeared to have worked well for the
governor was the support he enjoyed form the Plateau State people, especially
some elders who fought tooth and nail to see to see that he returned. Led by the pioneer chairman of the
ruling People’s DemocraticParty, Chief Solomon Lar the group of elders
from the state backing the return of the governor included former Head of
State, General Yakubu Gowon, former Defence Minister, Gen T. Y Danjuma and
Yahaya Kwande. They all motivated
a cross section of opinion leaders to prevail on President Obasanjo on the need
not only to return Dariye, but to refrain from extending the emergency rule
period. The Conference of State Assembly Speakers yielded to pressure from the
Solomon Lar-led group and gave their support. In a statement for example, the speakers who were
represented by their chairman, the Speaker of the River State Assembly, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, demanded that
all suspended democratic institution in Plateau State be restored at the
expiration of the state emergency on November 18, 2004 and that they should
include “both office of the governor, his deputy as well as the state
house of assembly.” He said,
anything to the contrary would again be unconstitutional. The speakers argued
that if by November 18, full blown democratic dispensation failed to return to
the state, it would amount to another unconstitutional act because only the
Plateau State House of Assembly had the powers to remove the governor. He
stressed that the law should be allowed to take its proper cause, adding that
“ if Governor Dariye is guilty of any offence let the due process of the
law take its course.”
The National Chairman of the People’s
Democratic Party, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had earlier endorsed Dariye’s return
to power. Although he said that
the view was personal, he set the tone for the deliberation of the
party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on the matter.
The elders took their campaign beyond the politic
circles as they enlisted the support of religious groups to drive home their
point. In a communiqué issued after the a meeting in Kaduna, the
Northern States Elders Forum decried the imposition of a state of emergency on
may 18 by President Obasanjo and insisted that there was no justification for
extending it. Prominent elders at the meeting included Gen. Gowon; Danjuma, Haladu Hananiya, K. Adeyanju
and Gen. Paul Tarfa. The forum also condemned the high level of discrimination
on religious basis in some Northern states where christians had allegedly been
treated as second class citizens.
Strong indications that the President was actually
out For Dariye’s jugular came shortly after his suspension. Shortly after the suspension came the
news that the embattled governor was arrested and quizzed in London for being in possession of hard
currency.
The governors’ forum was another group that
gave support to Dariye. They
drummed up support for the embattled governor. Speaking for the forum, the
chairman and Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Chief Victor Attah, said though
Obasanjo acted within his powers to declare the emergency rule to stem the
mayhem which led to the loss of lives and properties, it was important to
restore all democratic structures at the expiration of emergency rule so as to
restore confidence in the polity.
The forum also made it clear that though the president
had the right and authority to determine when a state of emergency had to be
declared and that the governor under that circumstance would remain suspended,
it felt the president did not need to dismantle any other democratic
institution like the state House of Assembly.
Knowing that the plot to nail Dariye had failed to
elicit the support of a cross section of the society, the presidency turned to
explore other means to ensure that the door of Jos, Plateau state government
house remained permanently shu.
Against the advice of the ruling PDP, the federal government appeared
not keen on the return to power of the suspended governor. The government set
up a three-man-committee headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General
of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujimi, to consider constitutional options of
stopping Dariye’s return. The committee was hurriedly constituted few
hours after the Obasanjo met with stakeholders and stalwarts of PDP at the presidential villa. He later realised the failure of this
plot to get members to stop Dariye.
The federal government toyed with four options to
stop Dariye’s return at all cost. First on the bill was an extension of
the state of emergency pending the judgement of the federal high court, Abuja
on December 6, 2004, concerning the issues of Dariye’s operation of
foreign accounts.
The second option was the possibility of waiting for
the investigation by the British police into the allegation of
money-laundering, while the outright impeachment of the governor was the third
option on the committee’s agenda. The last option though appeared mild,
it was for the federal government to counsel Dariye to resign.
This latest agenda of the federal government met a
stiff opposition from a group opposed to the extension of the emergency rule in
Plateau State. The group led by a member of the House of Representatives from
Plateau State, Hon. (Rev) Labour Wuyep, claimed that a few persons opposed to
the restoration of democratic structures had vowed to cause violence and bloodshed
to active their objectives.
Hon. Wuyep who was in the company of some
commissioners suspended along with the governor protested that a violent
protest was being planned in Plateau State after the Ramadan fast and called on
the federal government to take seriously recent comments credited to Sheikh
Balarabe Dawood, that he would
organise a mass protest if Dariye returned as governor of the state.
Just like other options, the choice of the
Olujimi-led committee also failed right from conception and the presidently
playing against time hurriedly dispatched a bill to the National Assembly
all in its bid to ensure
Dariye did not return.
The bill sent by President Obasanjo to Senate
President, Aldophus Wabara was titled, “A bill to make provision for the
Plateau State unity and reconciliation commission” is to sort out the
challenges arising from difficult of success fully presenting offenders of
human right abuses between 2000 and May 2004 against whom they may be
insufficient evidence.
The proposed commission also would address the
lengthy delays and high cost of litigation as well as the need to promote
reconciliation and unity through telling the truth about human right abuses.
Obasanjo in the memo added that the objective of the commission is to establish
as complete a picture as possible of the causes, nature and extent of the gross
violations of human rights which were committed during the period from June
2000 to May 2004 (when Dariye was governor).
These include, the antecedent, circumstances, factors
and context of such violations as well as the perspectives of the victims and
the motives and perspectives of the persons responsible.
The essence of the commission, Obasanjo stressed, is
to facilitate the recommendation of granting amnesty, reprieve or forgiveness
to persons who make full disclosure of all the relevant facts relating to acts
committed.
There was no mistaking the intention of what the
proposed bill is meant to achieve, but whatever happened to further
deliberation on it is only known to the president and the National Assembly.
Having failed, yet again with the option of the
proposed bill, the presidency turned to the direction of the Plateau State
House of Assembly to lobby it to impeach Dariye. In a letter addressed to the
Plateau House of Assembly, the Minister of Justice, Chief Akinlolu Olujimi
(SAN), catalogued an array of offences that included money laundering and
economic crimes under the British law. Back home, under the Nigerian law the
facts, according to him, revealed the following violation: money laundering;
illegal transaction in foreign exchange; false declaration and maintaining
foreign bank accounts.
Giving the facts of his case, Olujimi said on 20th
January, 2004, while conducting a search in London, in connection with a suspected
case of theft of computer equipment via internet purchase, the Metropolitan
Police found eleven thousand, five hundred and sixty pounds in a locked
briefcase.
The said sum was claimed by one Christopher Mekwunye
who asserted that Joshua Dariye gave him the money to deposit into his account
with Barclays Bank, London.
The search revealed documents including a Barclays
Bank statement (Account No. 701970410) in the name of Joshua Chibi Dariye with
an address of Flat 28, Regents Plaza apartments, 8 Greville Road, London NW6.
The statement showed a one of credit of nine hundred and eighteen thousand,
twenty nine pounds transferred in on 27th August, 2002.
Subsequent search yielded financial documents
indicating that he also banked with National Westminster Bank Plc and held a
Barclays card.
Enquiries with these banks, he said, had shown that
he operated two accounts with
Barclays Bank. Similarly, he operates two accounts with National Westminster
Plc.
In all, Dariye is known to operate eight UK bank
accounts, seven of which are sterling accounts while one is a dollar account.
On 2nd September, 2004, Dariye was arrested in his
Marriot Hotel room in London by the Metropolitan Police. A large sum of money
was recovered from Dariye who was taken to the Marylebone Police Station,
Central London and interviewed in the presence of his solicitor.
In a wide range interview, Dariye admitted ownership
of the accounts as well as his failure to declare the said accounts in the
assets declaration form he deposed
to after assuming office as Governor of Plateau State.
Even though he denied owning any property in London,
inquiries have, however, shown that Dariye bought the property known as Flat
28, Regents Plaza Apartments, 8 Greville Road, London NW6 in September, 2001
for 395,000.00pounds under the assumed name of Joseph Dagwan, the Metropolitan
Police raided the property on 22nd September, 2004 and found clear evidence
that the place is inhabited by family members of Dariye.
While the police were still in the premises, Dariye
came in. A search conducted in the house yielded cash and cheques totalling well
over 100,000 pound belonging to Dariye.
Investigations conducted in Nigeria revealed that the
property at 8 Greville Road was paid for by Dariye in September 2001 through
one Babatunde Lucky Omoluwa, the Managing Director of Pinnacle Communications
Limited. Omoluwa had in a statement he made on 3rd September, 2004 admitted
that Dariye paid him the naira equivalent of 365,000 pounds and instructed him
to transfer the sterling amount to an account owned by Joyce Oyebanjo (Mrs), a
long standing friend and financial facilitator of Dariye, living in London.
Omoluwa also stated that he did not feel comfortable transferring the money
into Oyebanjo’s account. Instead, he transferred same into the account of
Rowbery Morris, a firm of solicitors which handled the purchase of the property
for Dariye in the assumed name of Joseph Dagwan.
In all, a total of about 3,000 pounds belonging to
Dariye had been confiscated by the police and paid into an interest yielding
account operated by the Metropolitan Police.
Enquiries conducted in Nigeria indicate that Dariye
has extensive real estate holdings at prime locations in Jos and Abuja
including others which he failed to declare in his Assets Declaration forms in
1999 and 2003. They include Yelwa
Club, Bukuru Jos;a residential building near the Federal Housing Authority
(FHA) Staff Quarters Maitama, Abuja; a residential building at Ebenezer Close,
Asokoro, Abuja; an undeveloped expanse of land at Aminu Kano Crescent, opposite
Maitama District Hospital, Abuja and a building at Wuse 11, off Aminu Kano
Crescent, opposite BPE office, Abuja.
In a swift reaction on the impeachable offences
claims against Dariye, the state assembly technically threw away the idea
saying the issue did not demand the urgency Dariye’s detractors are labelling
him wit. Rather, it said the
assembly had other matters of importance to deliberate on.
The return of Dariye means different things to
different people. While it was a fait accompli for Solomon Lar and his
co-travellers in the operation to restore Dariye, the same cannot be said of
the Senate Deputy President, Ibrahim Mantu, who was the co-pilot with Obasanjo
in the bid to finish Dariye’s political career. If there is one person President Obasanjo
heavily relied on to help hatch his plot against Dariye, it was Mantu. Few
days to the expiration of the
state of emergency rule in Plateau, a plan to reconvene the state assembly on
the understanding that its first duty would be to impeach the pro-Dariye Speaker,
and then the governor was hatched. However, foot soldiers loyal to Dariye got
wind of the plan and stormed Abuja before the D-day and frustrated the
impeachment efforts. Reliable sources said several meetings were held; one at
the Aso-Rock Presidential Villa and another at the Deputy Senate President’s Abuja residence. To this end, the leading members of the
suspended Assembly were told in clear terms that if they agreed to impeach
Dariye, their suspension would be lifted. A subtle threat was handed to them
that they agreed to remove Dariye, the state of emergency would not be lifted.
The state legislators tactically agreed to this arrangement but reneged when
they met with the pro-Dariye’s group who were also heavily on the ground
in Abuja . The hunter now turned to be the hunted as loyalist of Dariye
commenced plans to recall him from the Senate.
Highly terrified though, Mantu is not one to be
easily boxed to a corner. He is
already threatening war, vowing to
make it a fight to the finish.
Infact, he is already going plotting to put in place a political
structure to rival the existing one in Plateau State to checkmate the influence
of Dariye.
Governor Dariye is unrelenting either. He has fired back at his foes when he
warned people in government to stop throwing stones as they all lived in glass
houses. He pointedly asked President Obasanjo to first make public his assets
and that he would follow suit.
President Obasanjo has also, during the Federal
Radio Corporation of Nigeria’s monthly programme, President Explains, joined issue publicly with the
governor. During the programme
which was the first after the return of democratic structure to Plateau State,
an enraged Obasanjo pointed out that there was a great case of immorality in Plateau State and promised that Dariye
would not be treated with kid gloves.
He said against the spirit of the constitution, Dariye owned and
maintained a foreign account. The constitution according to him prescribed that
no elected or politically appointed person should have a foreign account, but
Dariye did.
The outburst
not only confirmed Obasanjo’s determination to deal with Dariye
but that his government is not yet through with the embattled governor.
If
president Obasanjo had a disdain for Dariye the people of Plateau still see him
as their governor . This was
confirmed, not only by the support they gave him during his travails, the
warmth reception accorded him on his return to Jos, Plateau state further
confirmed it. The mammoth crowd
that greeted Dariye on his return to Jos, Plateau State and the manner with
which the elders and religion leaders threw open their doors is enough to tell
the president where the people’s heat is as far as ruling Plateau State
is concerned. And while Obasanjo
appears to continue to plot Dariye’s fall, the people of the state, by
their action, don’t seem to want to give up on retaining Dariye. Simply put, the situation is more of a
coup against by Dariye and his people against the president and his desire to
nail the governor. The battle does
not seem to be over yet, especially, with the Economic and Financial Crime
Commission being the latest dog unleashed on Dariye. A counter coup, anyone would say.
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