Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a scathing critique of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, declaring it the worst in Nigeria’s democratic history.
Obasanjo, however, said the current government of President Bola Tinubu appears to be following the same path of misgovernance and corruption and may surpass Buhari’s record.
The former president made these assertions in the first chapter of his newly released book, “Nigeria: Past and Future.”
The book was one of the two new books the former President unveiled last week in commemoration of his 88th birthday.
Obasanjo, in the book, described the N15.6tn Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project as wasteful and corrupt.
He also slammed Tinubu’s administration for spending N21bn on a new official residence for Vice President Kashim Shettima, calling it a misplaced priority and conduit designed to embezzle public funds.
He said, “Typical examples of waste, corruption and misplaced priority are the mucky Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road on which the President had turned deaf ears to protests and the new Vice-President’s official residence built at a cost of N21bn in the time of economic hardship to showcase the administration hitting the ground running and to show the importance of the office of the Vice-President. What small minds!”
The former President, however, said corruption was worst under Buhari’s watch, with the strong support of his Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
“The most atrocious waste, enthronement of corruption and discouragement of officials fighting corruption took place under the watch of President Buhari and the devil’s workshop, his Attorney General, Abubakar Malami,” Obasanjo said.
He, however, asserted that the Tinubu government might surpass Buhari’s record.
“Given about two years of President Tinubu in office, it appears that the game of short-changing the over 230 million Nigerians continues because everything is said to be transactional and the slogan is ‘It is my turn to chop,’” Obasanjo added.
Buhari could not be reached for comment on Thursday as his spokesman, Garba Shehu, did not respond to calls and text messages on the allegations against the ex-president.
Malami also declined to react to the book, saying he had not read it.
Malami said in a voice note, “Indeed, I will be able to respond. However, I would not like to comment on mere speculations. I am not certain such allegations were made. Even in his own case, if you recall, during a Hard Talk interview, similar allegations of corruption were raised against him, and he is well aware of that.
“In light of the fact that His Excellency, President Obasanjo, has also been a victim of unsubstantiated allegations of corruption over time, I find it unlikely that he would make similar claims without specific references—such as who provided the alleged bribe, when it was given, how much was involved, under what circumstances, and who facilitated it.
“All these details are necessary when making an allegation. But if the claim remains vague, I find it difficult to conclude that His Excellency indeed made such an assertion—especially given that he himself has faced similar accusations in the past.
“So, kindly refer me to the specific page, and if possible, provide a scan or an extract so that I can respond objectively. I have not yet gone through the book to confirm whether such allegations were indeed made by His Excellency, President Olusegun Obasanjo.”
The Presidency, however, came hard on former President Obasanjo on the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, during an interview on Television Continental, stated that the N15.6tn coastal highway was a visionary legacy project with enormous economic potential.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, in a post on X, said “Former President Obasanjo seems to see himself as the only Nigerian created by God who knows what is good for Nigeria per time.
“If, as President for eight years, he couldn’t fix the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Lagos-Abeokuta road, we can’t take his latest view on the Lagos-Calabar highway as well-informed.”
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, speaking in Akure, Ondo State, said, “The project is not wasteful and corrupt. I have read on social media where people were saying that why is the government or the contractor not explaining, but as the Minister of Works, I am qualified to explain the project.
“It is natural and normal for people to criticise, but I’ve run the benefits of the project and the cost analysis. The jobs are already done about 70 per cent and the project will bring a lot of prosperity to the citizens. I’ll ask those criticising it not to follow the road.”
Emphasising that the first section of the project would be completed next year, Umahi said, “I want to commend the President. His peers are jealous and angry but that means he is doing very well, especially on what nobody has been able to do.
“The project is transparent, it is great in return of investment. I want to urge everyone to ignore distractions.”
In his book, Obasanjo particularly criticised Buhari for failing to live up to the ideals he once championed as a military ruler in 1983.
Recalling how Buhari justified his coup against the civilian administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari by condemning corruption and electoral malpractice, Obasanjo regretted that Buhari presided over a government that became the worst in Nigeria’s civil administration.
He explained that in 1983 when giving the reasons why the democratically-elected government of the late Alhaji Shehu Shagari was toppled by the military, Gen Buhari (retd) had cited mismanagement of public funds hurting and making the country’s economy to be weak, lack of credible polls, among others as the reason for the military take-over.
In the book, Buhari was quoted to have said, “The last general election was anything but free and fair…There is ample evidence that rigging and thuggery were relative to the resources available to the political parties.
“This conclusively proved to us that the parties have not developed in the presidential system of government in which the nation invested so much materials and human resources.
“The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last four years have been the source of immorality and impropriety in our society…We deplore corruption in all its facets.”
Obasanjo, however, said that as good as Buhari’s 1983 speech was, he failed woefully to match his words with actions, even when he had the opportunity to serve the country for eight years as a democratically elected President, his administration was the worst in the nation’s history of civil governance.
He said “Good points and good words which Buhari failed to follow when he became president eleven years later.