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He said this when he was interviewed for a Hausa newspaper. In the interview, published online on Friday, Abubakar said that he and Obasanjo had an argument over his failed third term bid and he (Obasanjo) gave him a Quran and told him to swear unwavering loyalty to him.
The publication quotes Atiku’s words: “At first we started arguing, and then he (Obasanjo) opened his drawer and brought out a copy of the Quran and asked me to swear that I will not be disloyal to him. There was nothing I did not tell him in that room. The first thing I told him was that I swore with the Quran to defend the Constitution of Nigeria. Why are you now giving me the Quran to swear for you again? What if I swear for you and you go against the constitution?
“Secondly, I looked at him and told him that if I don’t like you or don’t support you, would I have called 19 northern governors to meet for three days in my House in Kaduna only for us to turn our back on you?
“Thirdly, I asked him, what are you even doing with the Quran? Are you a Muslim that you would even administer an oath on me with the Quran? I was angry, and I really blasted him. He asked me to forgive him and he returned the Quran back to the drawer, and we came out.”
As Nigerian will recall, Obasanjo’s third term bid caused great controversy, as many considered it unconstitutional, and rightly so.
Atiku spoke further on the former president’s plans to have a third term, which would have made it 12 years of power for Obasanjo. Atiku said that he warned the president to leave office once his second term was up.
He said, “In fact we had the same kind of altercation when he was gunning for third term, he informed me that “ I left power twenty years ago, I left Mubarak in office, I left Mugabe in office, I left Eyadema in office, I left Umar Bongo, and even Paul Biya and I came back and they are still in power; and I just did eight years and you are asking me to go; why?” And I responded to him by telling him that Nigeria is not Libya, not Egypt, not Cameroun, and not Togo; I said you must leave; even if it means both of us lose out, but you cannot stay.”
Obasanjo and Atiku fell out some time during their reign, and there were reports that the two never saw eye to eye on issues until their tenure was up. Reports also abounded that the falling out was because the former president reneged on his promise to stay only one term in office and promote Atiku’s presidential bid once he was done after his first four years in office. There were also rumors that Obasanjo had to go on his knees to get Atiku’s support for his second term. Atiku spoke about this as well.
“Honestly, he did not kneel down for me. But he did come to my house and I refused to see him. And he knocked my door continuously and asked me in the name of God to come out, so I came out, and we went downstairs, and he asked me to join him in his car and I said, no, because of security reasons, but he insisted. So when we entered his car, I never knew that he had gone round states pavilions and asking for the support of governors and delegates and they refused to listen to him because they have not seen us together. So that was why he came and picked me up so that we would go round together. There is something that many people did not know before, which I will tell you now.
“We sat with party elders and discussed the issue of Presidency and there was debate as to whether the South will have eight or four years? If the South had eight years, so the north too should have eight years subsequently. After lots of debates, it was finally agreed that the South should have eight years. And when power returns to the north, they should also have it for eight years.
“However, governors objected to this arrangement. I was then in a dilemma; is the governors’ objection genuine or just a political gimmick. What if I followed them to run against the president and they later on turn their back on me and align with the president? At the end of the day, one would neither be a vice president or a president because politics is a slippery game.”
When asked about his role in the splitting up of the People’s Democractic Party, Atiku admitted that he and the erstwhile governors had been plotting that move for four months. “We have been planning for some time because we have spent almost four months planning how to split the PDP.
“At first I didn’t know the arrowhead, but they eventually came and met me and I joined them because their reasons are the same with the ones I have been fighting against within the party; lack of fairness, honesty and tyranny. If I can fight the military to restore democracy, why can’t I fight fellow politicians?”
Speaking on the current court judgement declaring his faction of the PDP illegal, Atiku says that his party is currently appealing the judgement, and that Nigeria should prepare for a showdown.
“We have appealed; and we are planning seriously, you will see what will happen,” the former Vice President said.
Source: Punch Nigeria
