Newsscreen

A former military administrator of Kaduna State, Col. Abubakar Umar (retd.), on Monday asked the Federal Government to investigate the role played by President Olusegun Obasanjo in the privatisation programme. Umar said the investigation should be concluded in Obasanjo’s lifetime.

Umar who ruled Kaduna State between 1985 and 1988, in a statement in Kaduna, wondered why all the major initiatives embarked upon by the Obasanjo administration from 1999 to 2007 “have been such spectacular failures.”

He said, “Indeed not a few Nigerians are keen to know why all the major initiatives embarked upon during the eight years Chief Obasanjo ruled the country – privatisation, power sector reforms, alienation of Federal Government Properties, 2003 general elections, 2007 general elections, etc. – have been such spectacular failures.

“The Federal Government owes it to posterity to order for an investigation into these disasters immediately and not to wait a day longer. To wait until Chief Obasanjo might have died (as all of us will, some day) would expose it to charges of wickedness. When that happens, it would have no coherent defence.” …The Punch

INDICATIONS emerged at the weekend that the Senate ad hoc committee probing the Federal Government privatisation programmes might summon former President Olusegun Obasanjo to defend the allegations made against him during the hearing.

Investigations by our correspondents on Sunday showed that the decision to invite Obasanjo was discussed at the meeting of the committee after its sitting on Saturday.

It was learnt that the consensus was that the committee’s report would not be balanced, if Obasanjo was not invited to defend himself against the charges leveled against him by some former officials of Bureau of Public Enterprises.

A member of the committee, who pleaded anonymity, said, “Although we concluded our public sitting on Saturday, we are still considering inviting Obasanjo. Weighty allegations have been levelled against him, it is normal for us to allow him to clear himself.

“Nigerians are watching us. They want to see whether we will invite Obasanjo or not because he has been mentioned in many petitions. They want to know whether we will treat him as a sacred cow or not.”

Efforts to reach the former President on the allegations and his likely invitation by the Senate committee were not successful.

His media consultant, Mr. Adeoba Ojekunle, when contacted, promised to get in touch with our correspondent after contacting Obasanjo to inquire if he would want to react …The Punch