Obasanjo’s
govt is a fraud, says Balarabe Musa
By Sukoji
Bakoji
Bureau Chief (Kaduna)
and Habib Aruna
Assistant Politics Editor (Lagos)
Second Republic Governor of Kaduna State
Balarabe Musa has re-painted a sad picture of the state of the nation,
describing the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo as a fraud and
lacking in legitimacy.
He also accused him of usurping political
power to the detriment of hapless Nigerians.
Musa, Chairman of the Conference of
Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), alleged that the fraudulent practices
associated with last year’s general elections should not be allowed to
pass, adding that in every election, disputes are always settled before the swearing
in of the President.
“For the first time we have got this serious and lack
of legitimacy, and we should not allow it to pass,” he stated.
He stressed in an interview at his Kaduna
residence that if the electorate allow Obasanjo to go on without a concrete challenge,
the forces responsible for the annulment of June 12, 1993 Presidential
elections would again bare their fangs.
Said he: “And then of course
Nigerians will be turned into slaves, and Nigerians are not slaves; they
can’t be slaves and they cannot be different from the rest of the world.
Throughout the history of mankind, slaves have risen against their masters and
freed themselves. So I don’t think now in Nigeria we should continue to
compromise principles.
“The forces of reaction are so
powerful that each time you make compromise for the sake of peace, stability
and the continued existence of the country they take it as a sign of weakness
and they continue perpetuating themselves. This has to stop”.
On whether he regretted supporting the
candidature of the President in 1999, Musa said he did not. He, however,
expressed regrets that the person he vouched for has turned out to be a traitor
to friends who made sacrifices for him.
“We know so many of them all over
the country that really sacrificed their honour, some of them even their lives,
to stand for him. But, of course he betrayed them by not making the difference.
He betrayed them because they thought he was a saint and now he has turned out
to be a devil, quite clear”.
He denounced the recent apology tendered
to Nigerians by former military President Ibrahim Babangida for annulling the
June 12 election, saying this is not the time to do it.
“Babangida should have opened up
when he was in office or the moment he was forced to step aside. You
can’t just own up like that, by a former President for that
matter”.
